Smash Brothers Odyssey Book 5: Ultimate
by SmashBrosOdyssey
Summary: The Ultimate Tournament is underway. But, an insidious force has found the since-missing Smash Core, and plans to turn the multiverse on its head! What challenges await our heroes? Tune in to find out!
1. Origins: King K Rool

**Origins: King. K Rool**

 _A message from the Red Squirrel Kingdom sire, they are in possession of The Smash Core. And they've summoned us._

King Karnivorous Rool, ruler of the Kremlings played that moment over and over again in his head

 _Has it truly come to that_ thought the monarch

Sharing the same world as The Kremlings, The Kongs, The Mushroom Kingdom, Yoshi Island, the northern Snowmad tribe, among others, The Red Squirrel Kingdom, named that for the king who took it over in a violent coup, Conker had kept a relatively low profile. The coup had taken place nearly a decade ago, around the same time K. Rool attempted to blow up Kong Island with the Blast-o-Matic Since then, the Kremlings had kept a relatively low profile, relying mostly upon spy networks to determine the exact time a violent resurgence was appropriate. All the reports on Conker the Red Squirrel had said more or less the same thing. Something had happened during the course of the coup that had changed Conker from a happy-go-lucky sort, how he was when he first appeared on anyone's radar as a friend of Diddy Kong's, to a morose, cynical sort, to the point even Diddy Kong, once a treasured friend, could not break through to him. However, as he was not violating the rights of his people or being disrespectful of any treaties, he was of no concern to anyone.

But, thought, that might have changed now, for the absolute worse

"Sire, we're here, the ambassador awaits." Krunch, one of 's most trusted spies, and someone who had had dealings with Conker before, announced

"Good. Krunch, form up on me. The rest of you, two in front, two behind."

A simultaneous salute followed, and crunch, as well as four Kremlings carrying muskets at their sides, formed up on the portly dictator as they exited the landing craft. The ambassador, as it turned out, was a turtle, who beemed at the sight of them,

"Ah! Krunch, welcome to our humble kingdom!" he said in an overly jovial tone

"Tiptup? You're the ambassador?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be buddy? Other than you, Diddy and Banjo, we all ended up in the high court somewhere after Conker took over. The greatest thing that happened to any of us I'll say!"

Krunch silently nodded, "This is his Royal Nastiness of the Kremling tribe, King Karnivorus Rool. The bodyguards are simply a precaution. You understand don't you Tiptup?"

Tiptup cast his sights at the grown briefly before snapping back to attention, "Yeah buddy, totally!"

As Tiptup lead the entourage through the wooded path to the castle, King K Rool didn't like what he had seen already. Using someone a high ranking Kremling had had interactions with in the past as the greeter wasn't an accident. Plus, the overly friendly attitude was likely one presented to butter up and soften him into trusting whatever deal was to take place. took this as a personal insult. He had been a ruler for decades now. He knew to trust his fellow ruler only when it was beneficial, no more no less.

Finally, after what seemed like half an hour, they arrived at the dank looking castle. No doubt a holdover from the previous coup, but intimidating nonetheless."

"The throne room is just a bit of a walk from here! Thanks for being patient Mr. Rool"

Rool went to say something, but Krush, knowing that now wasn't the time for any outburst, put a hand on his king's shoulder. Rool nodded to him as they walked through the castle. The castle's interior was mostly dark. The only torch lights seemed to coincide with paintings of Conker and a rather buxom, fit grey squirrel, seductively splayed across Conker in all the paintings in workout clothes that barely covered anything.

It was then that Krunch whispered something into Rool's ear, "His dead girlfriend."

The king scanned the paintings one last time before they went to the throne room. Conker's eyes were a dead, angry stare out into the world

It dawned on him These were recent.

The doors to the throne room swung open, and immediately, Krunch pulled backward, and the front-most bodyguards took aim. Finally, after he regained his bearings, the king saw the commotion, 

Sitting at one throne was Conker, draped in the cape of the deceased Panther King, while the white squirrel from the paintings was in another throne, also draped in similar garb. Standing next to Conker was a ghastly, portly green woman in a witches outfit, sneering at the new guests. Standing next to the female squirrel was a tall pig creature in a black cape.

"Wizpig? Gruntilda? What trickery is this?" demanded The King

"Ah ah ah. Lower your weapons boys, they're an important piece of this shindig." Conker said

Rool took note. His voice was cool, calm, collected. Almost _too_ cool.  
 _This is the tone you want? Fine, I don't want a skirmish here_ thought the crocodile king

Rool motioned for the Kremlings to lower their weapons, and so they did

"Your attendance is your pleasure. For your allegiance shall be measured" Gruntilda cackled

"What does she mean Conker?" asked the King of Kremlings

Conker motioned for an attendant to come forward. The squirrel did, with a metal briefcase

"Ya see Rooly Boy, this lovely lady to my right is my squeeze, Berri. Until a week ago, she was dead. How did I get 'er back you ask? With the marvelous doohickey in this here briefcase."

"The Smash Core I take it?"

"Yessiree!" Conker squeaked, pausing to burp, "That's how I got these magic mothas back too. See, there'll people all over this damn universe who've made mistakes. I know you've made quite a few . And why because you want a plentiful land for your Kremling subjects. We can rewrite anything, everything, undo any mistakes. And wipe away heroes who stand in our way. Not just here, but anywhere. _Everywhere_.

Silence hung in the air, Then….

"I need to think about it."

"Pal, this is a golden opportunity yer missin…"

"I don't consider this a missed opportunity. I consider this a plan that has the potential to go toxic, and quickly"

Conker growled "The thing with toxicity buddy, is that some people have the antidote for this kinda shit, some don't. Show me which one you are " snarled Conker. Berri shifted in her seat and smiled impishly

"Similarly" The King of Kremlings began, " Show you're competent enough to hold such a power and attain such leadership, and perhaps I will be on board"

"You know what? You're playing it safe. You're a good ruler kid."

"Kid?" asked Krunch, "This is the Royal Highness of…."

"Nah nah, Krunch is it? I'm just funning around. Know what else is gonna be fun? Getting the team together. Any heavy hitter with a motive of taking over's gonna be in. Make sure you're on the right side of this m'friend."

More silence then.

"This meeting is what I considered adjourned. I'll be watching very closely" warned, as his entourage took to leave. noticed that Conker and Berri didn't even wait for them to leave before they began to make out, Berri having climbed into Conker's thrown. pondered this as the door shut behind them 

**Back at the carrier boat**

"So Krunch, what did you glean from that?" asked The King of Kremlings

"Well, the reports are right, he's definitely changed since I knew him. But he's a little man with a big gun. Desperate to prove he's going to be the perfect, most powerful ruler."

"Indeed. When we get back to the submarine, set a course for Kong Island. We need to have a conversation with someone."

Krunch's eyes went wide, "Really? Tip your hat this early?"

"Yes. I see a lot of the same flaws in Conker's plan that a decade of hindsight has shown me about the Blast-o-Matic idea years ago. Between scorched earth and taking the status quo, I choose the latter."

Rool turned to a subordinate managing communications

"You! Tell our eyes in the Red Squirrel Kingdom to dig up any information you can about Conker's Smash Core plans."

"Aye aye sir"

 **At Kong Island several hours later  
**

The sun had just set over Kong Island. In the house of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, a Smash Brothers commercial had just aired. Donkey Kong had turned off the TV so the two could make their evening meal when suddenly Diddy spoke up.

"Didya hear that DK?"

"Yeah, it sounded like a submarine"

Several pairs of heavy feet stomped towards the house, then a familiar voice rang out, "Donkey Kong!"

"IT'S HIM!" screeched Diddy as he and DK immediately bolted out the door, Diddy loading his peanut gun as he went

Sure enough, the King of Kremlings was standing right there, along with several soldiers,

"Before we engage in combat, take control of the limited ability you have to process what I'm saying! The Red Squirrel Kingdom has the Smash Core"

This stopped the Kongs right in their tracks.

"I was just summoned to their castle earlier in the day, and I believe he has intentions to build an army of multiple dimensions to take over ours. I believe this might be a job for the Smash Brothers, and I believe I can be of assistance"

"Okay" Donkey Kong huffed, "We'll call the Smashers. But if you're out of line for even a second, you'll get pummeled by me"

"I would expect nothing les.s"

Suddenly, a Kremling from the submarine came running back

"SIRE! Our eyes in the Red Squirrel Kingdom reported back. Conker's already been shopping around, clearly has some ideas of who he's going to recruit and how"

"Excellent. Pull the spy out immediately, and have him report to Kong Island," he said, turned to the Kongs, "And I expect we can leave for the Smashverse then?"

"Yeah." huffed an unimpressed DK .

"Don't worry DK, I've got the portal generator right here!" Diddy squeaked, punching in the coordinates necessary.

 **Later**

Night had fallen, and , the spy, and his entourage headed through the portal. It was day wherever they were, and they stood in the middle of a garden. Built into the wall of the garden were places for ornately drawn banners of Smashers past and present. noticed a banner dedicated to him, but before he could open his mouth, a computerized voice spoke out.

"Shulk anticipated your coming, and Mewtwo ascertained why."

The owner of the voice was a rustic white robot, who recognized immediately.

"Ah. You must be ROB the Robot. Your story, being the nomadic last of your kind is a story that has resonated with my people"

"I appreciate that very much" the voice, belonging to ROB, spoke out

A brown hunting dog with an oddly colored bird on its back scampered up to where they were

"Well, howdy stranger! My name's Otis, and my buddy here's named Mikey. We'll take the sneaky one with the computer doohickey to our archives room so we can get git started" said the cheery dog.

As the dog and the spy went off in a different direction, ROB spoke "Facial analysis indicates confusion, your highness. We had already begun to begin recruitment for the tournament, however, your revelation means our recruitment plans must change. Using what we will eventually learn, we will base our recruitment around this."

"Ah. I see,"  
"For now, I will show you to where you will be living for the duration. The Smashverse, where we reside, exists out of what you perceive to be time-space, so we will drop you off at the exact moment you left when our business is concluded. The tournament will begin as soon as everyone is recruited. Our veterans have already begun recruiting.

breathed in as he and his entourage moved forward into the unknown. The air was robustly clean, and not stinging with salt water as he was used to. As the relaxing ethos of this new world took him over, wondered what was in store, and most of all, if he had made the correct choice. 


	2. Origins: Daisy

**Origins: Daisy**

It was a peaceful day in Sarasaland Castle. But it wasn't just any day, it was the birthday of the ruler of the kingdom Princess Daisy. Unlike her life long friend, Princess Peach of the neighboring Mushroom Kingdom, who preferred grandiose celebrations of special occasions, Daisy enjoyed intimate, low key gatherings with people she cared about.

Daisy sat in a comfy recliner in the main entertainment room of her castle, already dressed in her classic yellow tank top and shorts. That was the key of today, play tennis with the man in her life, Luigi.

The brunette princess sighed dreamily as she pondered on their relationship thus far. It had begun when Mario saved her kingdom from the lovesick alien Tatanga. The two quickly became fast friends, as Mario was equally extroverted and athletic. It also helped that Daisy had already known of Mario from years before, as Peach had made sure to mention him in letters to her.

But, on one of their outings, a round of golf on Peach's backyard golf course, she met him. Luigi was quiet and introverted, a stark contrast from the other three. He also seemed to be lost in thought a lot of the time, loafing behind the crew. But, it was when Daisy's golf ball was accidentally hit into a tree that Luigi nonchalantly jumped into the highest point of the tree, retrieving the golf ball. Daisy had been waiting for an opportunity to strike up a conversation with the introverted, taller brother, but that was the opportunity she needed. Luigi was a lot like Mario, intelligent, athletic, kind, but leagues less flamboyant, much more careful and calculating. And honestly, Daisy loved it. Could Luigi golf and play tennis? Sure! But was he down with a quiet night in discussing books they'd read? Yes. And while Mario was kind and gentle in the basic sense, Luigi was amazingly in tune with other people's emotions. She could write a novel about all the times she'd been in a bad mood, and Luigi had tried to make the situation better without so much as a word from her.

Daisy was also sympathetic to Luigi's feeling of being isolated in activities. For example, Daisy watched Luigi, Mario, eventually even Peach and Bowser, in the Smash Brothers tournament. And while she very much enjoyed hosting large viewing parties around Sarasaland's Four Kingdoms so that everyone could partake, she so longed to be a fighter, to show that she was just as tough as her friends.

Suddenly, a gong rang out. Someone was at the door. Luckily, the main door was only a quick stride from the entertainment room. The two Toad guards swung the mighty doors open to reveal the inviting, warm face of Luigi. Decked out for tennis too it seemed, in a white visor, green polo, beige shorts, and black sneakers. His arms, however, were tucked neatly behind his back, as if he was hiding something.

"H-happy birthday Daisy." greeted Luigi

Daisy couldn't help but blush. Luigi had once confided in her that he was often awestruck by her beauty that he stuttered.

"Why thanks! What's that behind your back?"

"Well, it's your present."

Daisy grinned, "Present? Babe, I said no gifts! Seeing you in that polo is enough. Me-yow!" Daisy joked, doing the "cat's claw" hand gesture

Now it was Luigi's turn to blush,

"This one is….pretty important"

"Now I'm intrigued! Show me the goods baby bear!"  
"TADA" Luigi produced the object from behind his back, an envelope with a red center and a familiar crest.

Daisy's heart skipped a beat, "Dude…." was all she could muster

A deep breath later, and then a "No way!"

"Open it, babe, what does it say?" Luigi asked with a playful wink

Snatching the letter and tearing open, Daisy read it aloud

"Dearest Daisy of Sarasaland, we hereby invite you to join the Super Smash Brothers Tournament. Your recruiter, Luigi Mario will accompany you to the Smashverse at the beginning of next week when perpetrations can begin. We look forward to seeing you."

There was a pause. Daisy felt the tears in her eyes well up, and her chest tighten

"Baby, you know I've always wanted to be a Smasher,"

"Yeah, I know! And I know what you're thinking…."

There it was. Luigi could read her like a book. By the stars, she loved that man

"Your name came up in the selection process all on its own."

Daisy smiled, "So Peach wasn't throwing a fit so loudly that whoever's in charge relented?"

"You-a know Peach doesn't throw fits. She's too polite. She just makes passive-aggressive comments."

Daisy let out an entirely too loud "HA!" She was bursting with emotion

Before Luigi could process what was happening, Daisy had Luigi in a bearhug, and was jumping up and down.

"I'M GONNA BE A SMASHER! I'M GONNA BE A SMASHER!"

This caught the attention of some of the blue toads hustling about the castle, "What? Really?" asked a bewildered younger Toad

"YES! SPREAD THE WORD THROUGHOUT THE LAND! WOOOOOOO!"

The castle then erupted into chaos, each Toad trying to find someone who could decree the news to the people

"Uh, honey? Think we might wanna get away from this hubbub?" Luigi asked, still ensnared in the bearhug of his girlfriend.

Suddenly, Daisy realized what she was doing.

"Oh yeah. Tennis and then a picnic dinner?"

"Sounds wonderful to a-me."

 **Several hours later  
** It was now close to 10 PM in Sarsaland. Daisy and Luigi had played a relatively robust series of tennis matches and had a picnic dinner brought to them later. Now, it was time for bed. Luigi had just been invited to bed by Daisy, who was wearing a form-fitting, orange silk night top, her bedtime motives clear. However, the wrist communicator on Luigi's wrist began to beep, Luigi pressed the accept button. It was Shulk. Luigi had nodded in agreement to Daisy, who headed to bed.

"Hey, Shulk, what's up?" Luigi asked

"I know you said you wanted us to leave you alone with your girl for a few days, but something important just came up. We received info that may or may not result in a Tabbu level threat."

Luigi felt the blood drain out of his face, "The Smash Core? Who has it?"

"Conker the Squirrel. And we have evidence to suggest he's rallying up some pretty high-level villains."

"Anyone on our side?"

"Nah. Everyone who got screwed over by Tabuu the first time is firmly against him."

"Good. Who's it-a you got me recruiting?"

"I'll brief ya when you get to the Smashverse. I've already got your poultergust ready to go"

"Hey Shulk?"

"Yeah Luigi?"

"Can this wait until tomorrow morning? If this is so high level I don't want to worry Daisy, wanna get it done before she even wakes up for breakfast tomorrow"

Shulk's image disappeared, possibly to confer with ROB

"Granted" said the image of Shulk as it popped back into view, "Have fun, but be ready to go to work tomorrow

"M'kay. Bright and early tomorrow m'friend" Luigi said as he turned off the device, scuttling to the bedroom

Luigi's heart nearly skipped a beat when he entered the bedroom. He and Daisy had made love before, but it always struck him how beautiful and tone she was when she wanted to show it off

"Hey lovebug, what was that all about?"

Luigi shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, "Just gotta pull off some ghost busting first thing tomorrow. But you know how Smash time works, I'll be back before you wake up"

Daisy grinned, "Hey, at least we can enjoy tonight" Daisy purred as she kissed Luigi on the lips

Luigi was hellbent on enjoying his night with his girlfriend, completely unaware of what beheld him the next day 


	3. Origins: The Belmonts

**Smash Origins: The Belmonts**

 **Transylvania: 1692**

"I still don't understand why I had to be the one to go on this-a damn mission" whined Luigi into his wrist communicator as he trudged through the muddy cobblestone up to the castle

"Because you're the only one of us with practical paranormal experience. Plus we need to get a bead on this Dracula fellow as well as our man, evaluate their power levels first hand and that," explained Shulk, the blond-haired young man on the other end.

Luigi sighed, "Alright-a. The Smash tech is acting glitchy. I think whatever voodoo is surrounding this place is interfering with it. so I'm going to cut it until the mission is complete."

"Okay. Should Link's recruitment go to plan, you should have some backup in relatively short order Best of luck Luigi" Shulk said as Luigi turned the communicator off

Luigi saw it in the distance. Guarded by a rusty gate, a mighty, otherworldly looking castle stood in the distance. According to area legend, for centuries the castle had appeared when its seemingly immortal owner, Dracula, reappeared. And, there was always a Belmont to crash the proceedings.

Had Luigi had his way, he would've waited for this "Belmont" character to show up and then gone in. But, as Shulk had said, they needed to draw out Dracula.

Luigi scaled the fence relatively easily, opening the door, and armed with just a flashlight, opened the enormous doors to the castle.

"Dracula," called Luigi, "I-I request an audience with the one named Dracula"

Throughout the castle's eerie foyer, several sources of ghoulish, uproarious laughter echoed from the darkness

"Your voice cracks Luigi Mario. I am not entirely sure you understand what you're asking." a haunting, posh voice echoed.

"H-h-how do you know my name?" Luigi asked

"I am a man who has existed through many lifetimes, and been to the abyss that signals the end of life for mortals, I know all. For instance, I know of your Smash Brotherhood, and I know of your willingness to recruit Simon into it. I will not allow that to happen. Or you to leave at all. You will make a suitable exercise for my minions and nothing more. SEIZE HIM!" the voice, who Luigi had ascertained was Dracula himself, commanded

An Egyptian mummy was the first to step forward. Luigi, out of habit, tried to shine his flashlight on it, but to no avail. Using the Poltiergust 5000 strapped to his back, he shot a plunger at the undead behemoth. Even more useless. Luigi took a deep breath and charged towards the mummy, baseball sliding directly into its ankle bone. It knocked the monster down, but it grabbed Luigi's ankle. The cold, rotting flesh immediately caused the nerves on Luigi's leg to fire, and Luigi to let out a yelping scream. Barely being able to kick away from the mummy, he got to his feet and bolted deeper into the castle.

 _Always head for light always head for light_ a panicked Luigi reminded himself

Thankfully, in the distance, Luigi saw a room bathed in a foreboding pink light. Luigi ran down the hall, only stopping when he noticed a blood-red light behind him. A statue was glaring directly at him. Suddenly, snakes sprouted from ahead. Luigi screamed in terror, as the castle crumbled slightly around him. Suddenly, as he ran into a windowless part of the hallway, he felt a cold foreboding surrounding him. He looked up, and saw Death himself, standing before him, scythe at the ready, his eyes glowing with a hellish blue flame. Luigi let out one last cry of terror before he lost consciousness.

Simon Belmont saw the small, green-clad man fall but waited. In his childhood, he had been coaxed to bed with stories of Death's murderous intent, and how he attacked like a vulture, only on prey that was weak and vulnerable. Sure enough, Death conjured a blue flame, with the intent of dumping it onto the man's prone body. Simon chose this opportunity to strike with his whip, the Vampire Killer. It connected across Death's grisly cheek. The reaper charged forward with a pained howl, but Simon quickly tossed a cross at Death, knocking him back, and causing him to drop his scythe.

"Death, this is pathetic, Away with you, now." rang the voice of Dracula.

Simon snarled. The man who he had been trained to hate since birth was standing right in front of him, dressed just as his parents had described him, Long, gray hair, red dress shirt, flowing black cape.

Simon whipped Dracula without hesitation, following that up with a volley of axes.

"Hm," Dracula snarled, rubbing a scratch on his cheek, "You Belmonts get weaker all the time. Make your life mean something. COME AT ME!" roared Dracula.

Simon leaped into the air, with the intended goal being to bring his whip upon Dracula from the air. However, Dracula summoned three pillars of fire. Instinctually, Simon left-back, driven to his knees by the sudden shock of fire, and the burning of his boot.

"You Belmonts are, all the same, the same techniques, century after century" Dracula mused as a fireball conjured into the air, "It used to bring me some much-needed enjoyment. But I tire now, and I will eliminate you."  
The fireball had grown to a titanic size. In all the diaries of the Belmont hold, nothing had ever alluded to Dracula using this much force before. Simon readied his bod, hoping it would somehow protect the green man, and silently prayed for a miracle.

 **Transylvania, 1797**

Link's ears twitched as the boiling chicken roast crackled on the fireplace behind them. His eyes, however, were focused on the young man in front of him. Richter Belmont either had an unbelievable poker face or was completely unphased by what Link had just explained.

"So, what you're saying is, you want me to join a peacekeeping order, that bands together heroes from all of time, which includes a long-dead member of my family?"

"Yes. Our research indicates yourself and Simon have the most cumulative experience fighting Dracula and we n…."  
"Say no more. I'm in."

Link cracked a grin at that. He respected the young man's zeal.

Link punched some coordinates onto the screen of his watch  
"Well Richter Belmont, I hope you enjoy getting your feet wet right away because Simon and another colleague of mine are in need of some assistance."

 **Transylvania, 1692**

Something was blocking the fireball between them. Simon felt the hot air as if the flame had been cut in half. This was enough to dissipate the flame, and what stood before him was a dark-haired young man with a blue shirt, armored pants, and a white bandana. Most befuddling was that this man had The Vampire Killer. 

"Begone monster, you don't belong in this world!" cried the mysterious man  
Whipping his version of The Vampire Killer out, then up, Dracula was sliced almost up the chest. The vampire shrieked in pain, obviously just as surprised as Simon.

"This…was not….the plan. Damn you Belmonts and your trickery. You will rue the day you chose to come here, all of you!"  
As Dracula disappeared, the castle began to shake and vibrate.  
"I've seen this before Simon. Get the green man through the portal!" Richter commanded

"How do you know my…"

"There'll be time for that later. Grab him, follow me!"

Simon nodded, jumping through the portal, the small, green-clad man over his shoulder into who knows what as the castle dissipated behind them.

 **Transylvania, 1797**

"Tell me, what was Alucard like?"

"Standoffish, but noble in his pursuits."

"Trevor's diaries had a bit more colorful an interpretation of him"

A snort of laughter, "That sounds like Trevor. And I could see how Alucard could come off that way to people, but he really helped me."

Luigi Mario opened his eyes with a loud groan. The gaze of Simon, Link, and who he presumed was Ritcher fell on him.

"You doin' alright Weegee?" said Link, with a mischievous grin.

Normally, Luigi would've grumbled something about not calling him Daisy's pet name for him in front of new recruits, but he simply didn't have the energy  
"Yeah, Link I'm fine-a. What even happened?"

"You were scared unconscious. Ritcher and I came to your rescue."

It took everything within him to hide his embarrassed blush as Luigi spoke next, "How much did you tell 'em?"

"Bare minimum. But you're the better pitchman. I made you a glass of water when you're ready."

It was at this point Luigi realized he was laying down in a bed, complete with nightstand, and a glass of water on it. Luigi gulped down the water, cleared his throat and began.  
"So, if you haven't already guessed, I'm-a Luigi. Link might have told you a little bit about the Smash Order. To the public, we're a multi-versal combat sports league. But, like you with Dracula, we all have the evil drudges of our homeworlds. Sometimes there's something that causes such peril we have to team up and deal with it. This is one of those situations, and it might be our biggest task yet. The thing that powers the entire universe in which Smash resides is called the Smash Core. Think of it as the heart of the body that tethers all of our dimensions together. A few years back, it was stolen from its original keeper, a god of creation named Tabuu, when we had to put an end to him. Two of his subordinates, the founders of the Smash Order, thought they could control it. But it ended up consuming them, and the Smash Core disappeared when we tried to destroy it. Until very recently we were trying to find it. One of our new recruits was informed that it was in the hands of a relatively unknown despot named Conker, and, out of some unexplained bitter hatred for the world as it stood, he's made moves to unit evildoers from across different dimensions and times. We believe that if Dracula and his hordes aren't already on board, they will be soon."

"I suspect they already are." said a suddenly morose Richter, "Dracula did say that it wasn't in the plan, what we did"

"There's also the possibility that he's intentionally misdirecting us" Simon added

"Either way," Link interrupted, "I doubt he knows how much we know. Our informant only recently came to us, and we're using the information to recruit to our cause before Conker's forces, whatever they are, mount an offense"

Ritcher snarled "Annette and Maria will be none-to-happy"

"The Smashverse actually exists outside of what you perceive to be space and time. They'll be at the tournament, and if Conker's army doesn't hit this country before we defeat him, they'll never know there was a problem" added the Hero of Time as he punched in some coordinates into his wristwatch, causing a portal to open, "So boys, if you would be so kind as to follow me to your new home for the duration ." 

Looking at each other, the Belmonts nodded, following Link and Luigi inside the portal.

 **Sarsaland, morning**

A portal opened from the Smashverse, and Luigi stepped out of it. Daisy had taken to sprawling out on the king-sized bed in his absence. Luigi smiled softly, sitting on the bed, running his gloved fingers through Daisy's long brown hair

A soft smile and giggle indicated that she was awake

"Mornin hon, how was ghost bustin'?" she asked with a stretch and a yawn

"Eh, it's been a-better. Upside though is that we met two Smashers, I'll introduce you to them when we all get together"

"Neat. I can't wait to meet them" Daisy said woozily, pausing to stop yet another yawn, "I love you Weegee"

"I love you too babe"

Luigi crawled into Daisy's bed, cuddling her close, and falling asleep almost instantly. It had been quite the day.


	4. Origins: Ridley and Dark Samus

Ridley and Dark Samus

 **Smash Mansion: Conference Room**

"THEY WANT ME IN SMASH!" bellowed the startled image of Isabelle on the tablet computer screen

Light chuckles arose from around the room. Mario suddenly grabbed the tablet from his seat around the boardroom table. Seated to his immediate left and right were The Original 12, the group of heroes originally gathered by Master Hand to determine who was the best among them. While on some level he trusted the judgment of everyone in the Smash Brotherhood, these eleven were some of the most experienced warriors in the entire universe, and almost just as experienced with the unique animal known as Smash Brothers. The only person in the boardroom who was not one of the originals was Shulk, who coordinated the Smash technology Mario had inherited from The Hands, Master, and Crazy.

"As you can see Isabelle was VERY enthused to be-a selected. Now, on to more serious concerns." Mario addressed the room, thumbing through files on the tablet, "Ms. Aran, there have been reports that these two have become targets in a space pirate leadership shakeup."

Mario slid the tablet to Samus, who caught it. Immediately on seeing the images onscreen, those who sat closest to her could see her eyes clothes. Everyone could hear the deep inhale. The two images onscreen were that of a purple dragon and a dark visage of herself. Ridley and Dark Samus

"No," Samus snarled after what seemed like an eternity of silence, "My dark clone is more or less an animal made of some alien goop, and Ridley has KILLED everyone I cared about"

"Sam listen" Mario shot back, "Ridley's been screwed over by Tabuu, just like all the other 'bad guys' on our roster. If we explain to him we aren't anti-villain, but anti-Tabuu, we can make it work"

"As far as Dark You…" Shulk began, but was interrupted by Samus' head snapping in his direction, "It isn't me, it's an animal who liked my costume"

"Right, so….erm….Dark Samus, I've been looking around Crazy Hand's old room and."  
'Please for the love of God let this be relevant" moaned Captain Falcon

"And I found a shock collar. Reverse engineering says it can shock the wearer at the push of a button, and in worse case scenarios detonate the wearer entirely. I volunteer to make one for Dark Samus, and be its keeper"

Samus paused in thought, then slowly nodded, "Okay, but if either of 'em fucks up, it's on you Mario, and you Shulk"

"I accept a-responsibility. Same goes for you Shulk?"

"Yes, absolutely"

"Good. Now, I suspect you know where these two idiots are?" growled Samus

"Yes. A stolen carrier ship where Zebes used to be" Shulk stated

"I'm-a gonna give you the liberty of putting together the team that accompanies you for this," said Mario

"It has to be a small team. Ridley's a coward and will flee the second he thinks he's outmatched. That said, I'm thinking you" she said, pointing to Mario, "and Megaman would be solid enough backup."

"Alright. You have-a two hours before we depart"

"Understood"

The meeting adjourned then, with Samus leading the group out into the main mansion. Heading to the elevator, she heard a voice behind her

"Samus darling, you look perturbed. Is something the matter?"

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, it was Peach, the perpetually sunny princess of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Recruitment I'm not too happy about"

Peach's tongue clicked in thought, "It's not that dreadful dragon from Subspace. Ridley was it?"

"Yeah, and another alien who uses my stuff."

"Oh, dear. Samus, darling, Mario knows what he's doing. He wouldn't recruit anyone he didn't think would help."

"I hope your right" Samus huffed as the elevator came to a stop on her floor

"Good talk darling" Peach called out as Samus departed

Samus fumbled with the key to her room, finally opening it

As she opened the door, she saw her roommate, Bayonetta, sprawled out on her bed, reading an ancient-looking book. Bayonetta rolled to her side as she heard Samus enter

"What? No 'honey I'm home'?" playfully chided Bayonetta

Samus cracked a grin at that. Bayonetta was one of the few people who's dry, terse attitude matched her own. Combine that with being a relentless tease, and she was one of Samus' favorite Smashers

"For the last time, I'm not your honey"

"Oh? Drunk Samus at the afterparty last tournament had some different things to say"

"It's why I don't drink. Drunk Samus is an idiot" explained the bounty hunter as she punched the code on the safe in the closet that contained her Varia Suit

"And where are you off to young lady?" questioned an intrigued Bayonetta

"Off with a couple of the others, for a recruitment mission, I'm not too excited about."

Bayonetta frowned, "And why was I not invited?"

"Because you and I are friends. Ridley would pick up on that"

"The hell? Why him? Didn't he….?

"Yeah."

Silence hung in the air as Samus began to put on her armor, then.

"Well. Be careful. I like having you around. You're the only one around here who enjoys it when I jiggle my ass."

Samus let out a single chuckle as she continued to dress, putting on her arm cannon over her gloved Zero suit

"Cloud plenty well enjoyed it"

Bayonetta playfully tossed the book she was reading at Samus

"Ugh, you're lucky we're friends. I'd have to really kick anyone else's ass if they mentioned him to me"

"Cloudanetta"

"Now you're really pushing your luck. Get out of here before I make whatever stink-infested place you're headed to look like a candy shop"

Samus put on the helmet, the last piece of her armor, which activated the voice modulator, which deepened her voice as not to betray the fact she was a woman to scummy bounty hunters she interacted with in her working life

"Now it's your turn to shut up 'Netta"

Bayonetta's tongue clicked against the roof of her tongue, "Ooooh, I like your man voice"

"Shut up" playfully chided Samus as she left the room.

 **Stolen federation carrier ship, coordinates of the former Zebes**

It was a ghastly scene. Pirates were strung up by their entrails in any place a rope could be hung, and it stunk like death. Samus cast a quick glance at her companions. Megaman's eyes darted robotically from side to side, completely stoned face. Mario on the other hand, while a consummate professional, was looking _very_ pale

Suddenly, a screech hung pierced the air, as Dark Samus jumped down from higher up, firing a fully charged blaster shot. Mario quickly reacted, using his cape to deflect the blast. The blast careened back at Dark Samus, knocking it hard onto the metal walkway they all resided. Megaman waded his way between them, activating his leaf shield while Samus charged her own shot.

"Dark. Stand down" demanded a shrill, squawking voice

Samus closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaling as she heard the beating of wings from below. Sure enough, Ridley flew up to their level

"As if today couldn't get any worse. To what do I owe the pleasure Aran? Come to try and arrest me like usual?"

"No, she's with me. I'm-a Mario Mario, leader of the Smash Brothers"

"Ah, the people up in Tabuu's business years ago. What do you want with me?"

"Pirate fleet inbound. 30 seconds to entry" dryly explained Megaman

Ridley roared

"How _dare_ you. You're with them! You're working with the pirates!"

"No, we…" Mario began

Ridley's razor-sharp tail lashed out, striking Megaman, hard, with a metal clanging. A stunned Megaman fell off of the walkway. Suddenly, Rush appeared, allowing Megaman to use him as a jump. Just as he did this, Rush disappeared  
"….Two…..One"

Just as Megaman spoke those words, the door at the opposite end of the walkway exploded outward. Megaman tossed a metal blade into the explosion, striking the first pirate, causing him to fall lifelessly backward. Dark Samus whipped around, shooting an ice missile at the second pirate. The ice block that resulted around the pirate's form was large enough to block the rest of the door

"Dark! Double charge shot, on my word!" Samus shouted

Both Samus and Dark took squatting firing stances as Dark Samus charged her arm cannon

A few seconds of silence, then….

"NOW!"

Two fully charged arm cannon shots careened through the door, one obliterating the frozen pirate, the other obliterating three pirates crowded in the doorway's corridor

Mario sprayed the floor in front of the Smashers with FLUDD causing a group of pirates to slip and fall of the walkway, "Megaman, now! The collar

Megaman tossed the shock collar at Dark Samus, which wrapped perfectly around its neck. Ridley flew through an exhaust hole into space, finding the offending pirate ship, and obliterating it with his mouth laser

"That should be the last of them" Ridley snarled

"What I originally was going to offer you was, if you join us we can offer you asylum from Mother Brain's crap

"Mother Brain? It's back? That's why my men turned on us"

"Yes. And Mother Brain is the least of the universe's problems. Tabuu's old forces are behind it, commanded by someone else"

Ridley let out a feral growl, just as he did, Dark Samus leaped at Samus, but an electric shock brought it to its knees

"What was that?"

"Shock collar. It's a safety precaution. Obey all orders, and you won't get one yourself." Samus growled

"And you will assist in the fight against Tabuu's forces, and participate in the illustrious Smash tournament"

"There's literally nothing I despise more than conniving bastards like Tabuu and people like him. I and Dark accept your offer"

Samus chuckled

"What's so funny, twerp?"

"Samus! Not now!" commanded Mario as a portal opened back to the Smashverse

"Follow us" Samus commanded

As Samus entered the portal, "Ridley, if I can ask, how do you control Dark Samus"

"It can feel the hatred I feel, at least that's what I believe" cackled Ridley as he and Dark Samus entered the portal

Mario frowned, "I'll have to keep an eye on him won't I Mega?

"Affirmative" agreed Megaman as the two stepped through the portal


	5. Origins Chrom

**Origins: Chrom**

 **Yilsse, Shepards Command Center**

"Exalt Chrom! Hello!"

"Evenin' Exalt Chrom!"

Chrom waved back at the two men lugging supply boxes as he entered the grounds of the Shepards command center, a place he knew well as its former leader, but a position he had to vacate as the new Exalt. Luckily, he'd left it in the hands of the two most trustworthy people he knew. His daughter, Lucina, and her husband, his best friend, Robin.

As Chrom approached the main cabin, he Robin, a silver haired young man, dressed in his usual black robbed, waving excitedly at him. Holding his other hand, was his daughter Lucina.

"Greetings Chrom!" Robin shouted , smiling wide

"And greetings to the both of you!" Chrom called back

When they were in close enough distance, Chrom and Robin gave one another a hardy handshake. Lucina, meanwhile, threw her arms around Chrom in a warm hug

"Hello Father!"

Chrom chuckled lightly. Lucina was normally serious and stoic to other people, but a very affectionate and warm around him. While the reasons were completely understandable, having grown up without him in an apocalyptic future, it still jarred him from time to time.

"And hello to you too love. Now, you said you had something for me?"

Lucina smiled wider, like a kid keeping in a major surprise, Robin meanwhile, only grinned, handing him a letter. The letter had the Smash Brothers crest on it. Chrom let out a bellowing laugh.

"So that lad Falcon wants a re-match I'm guessing?" Chrom said with a smirk

"Father, Falcon was more impressed with you than you think. You did Ike's Aether in that fight without having seen Ike do it, and you took three consecutive Falcon Punches before I had to step in. It was all he talked about for months!"

Chrom once again laughed, "Great! I'm looking forward to seeing some of the legendary heroes you regaled me with tales of. Especially that fellow Ike. I believe it was destiny that we were meant to meet in battle"

"I've thought that too, since the day with Falcon anyway" Robin explained, his demeanor suddenly turning serious, "We need your help anyway?"

Chrom's expression darkened as well, "Help? With what?"

"We'll explain on the way. I've already informed Lissa that she'll need to take command for a while"

"Okay. Let's go." commanded Chrom.

Robin nodded, pressing a few buttons on his red wrist watch. A portal opened, showing the Smashverse on the other side

The three stepped through, as the portal closed behind them

"So….this is it? The Smashverse?" Chrom asked

"Yes" said Lucina with a sigh, "It's always so peaceful here, I missed it"

"Unfortunately, it won't be very peaceful if Conker decides to act"

"Who's Conker?" Chrom asked

"An unhinged despot from Mario's world. He has the Smash Core."

"So are we expecting war?"

"For now, no. We believe Conker is still gathering villains from across the universe, including Grima"

Chrom's face went white, "Grima. But we killed him! _You_ killed him"

"Yes father" Lucina finally spoke, "In our reality. However, in other realities, we've been informed a female version of Robin has taken over the world as Grima's host."

"That is…unsettling to say the least. But, if we beat Grima together here, we can beat Grima again" stated the prince of Yilsse

""I agree" Robin nodded, "But, until Conker moves, the tournament is first priority, by order of Mario. We can't let the public think there's anything wrong"

"Indeed" Lucina said, "And, I was hoping that we could prioritize all of us spending time together. We are all so busy in our non-Smash lives"

"Indeed we are! I'd like to spend time with my son-in-law, and my daughter very much!"

Robin grinned, "Very good! Let's get you settled at the Mansion. You're rooming with Ike I believe"

"Yes! We can trade techniques!"  
The three shared a chuckle as they walked from the park in the direction of the Smash mansion.


	6. Origins: Ken and Incineroar

**Origins Ken and Incineroar**

(Author's note: Because canons are confusing, for the sake of the story we're going to say the events of Punch-Out took place in 1987, the events of Punch-Out Wii in 1989, the events of Street Fighter II in 1991, and the events of Street Fighter V in 2018)

 **Manhattan, New York,**

 **WVBA Arena**

 **1989**

 **5:00 PM**

"So this is the place huh?" a cocky, boisterous voice echoed throughout the empty boxing arena.

"Yes Ken, this is it. Doors open at 7, and your tryout isn't until the main event, so you have plenty of time to warm up." said a much sterner voice with a hint of a Japanese accent.

The boisterous one, a blond, chisel-faced, American was wearing an expensive-looking red suit, with at least three of the buttons undone, revealing a Black Sabbath t-shirt underneath. The Japanese man, had black, short yet frizzy hair, and wore a tattered karate gi and sandals.

They were Ken and Ryu, two martial arts masters who had trained together since their youths, often crossing paths in tournaments around the world. Despite their near unbreakable bond, the two couldn't be more different. Ken was born into American economic royalty, the Masters business empire, and was sent to Japan to learn martial arts under Gen. On the other hand, Ryu was born a penniless orphan, raised by the man who would go on to train them both, the martial arts master Gen. Their unbreakable bond was one forged by mutual respect of the other's discipline and ethics, as well the common bond of having faced some strange foes over the years, like the evil warlord M. Bison, or their master Gen's rival Akuma. They'd even fought in multiple dimensions. But somehow, this struck Ken as the strangest. Here he was, having freshly teleported from his summer home in 2018 to 1989 Manhattan hours earlier.

"Man, I can't believe we're in 1989" Ken mused to no one in particular.

"As you've said" grunted Ryu as he slid under the bottom rope of the ring.

Ken was more theatrical, jumping over the top rope, and kicking off his shoes.

"Yeah, but like, of all the places we've been, all the screwed up monsters we fought, here I am in an alternate universe of a place I spent A LOT of my childhood summers, and in a time before the second World Warrior tournament, when I was catching up on all the pop culture I'd missed while I was in the Japanese boonies with you knuckleheads"

Ryu grinned, "Oddly flippant for someone about to try out for the biggest Smash tournament ever."

"You know me bud, gotta keep loose before a big fight" Ken said with a chuckle, leaning against the ropes, "Especially since I'm fighting the dude who you did your tryout against."

Ryu felt a cold chill run up his spine. There were a few fights where, if he thought about it, he could feel the pain of the blows as if it were yesterday. The match he'd had to tryout for the Duel tournament against Little Mac, the deceptively small, scrappy boxer, in this very arena was one of them. It had ended in a draw when a Star Punch from Mac and a fully charged Focus Punch from Ryu had connected simultaneously, resulting in a double knockout. Luckily, Mac vouched for Ryu post-fight and he'd been accepted into Smash Bros.

"Thinking about the finish of that one? Man, that was gnarly?" said Ken, who by this point was throwing some high kicks at nothing.

"Yes. Hopefully, you fare better than I did. Now come, we should find your locker room" said Ryu

Ken and Ryu both left the ring together walking down one of the entrance ramps, Ken trailing behind Ryu as he scrambled to grab his shoes

"Hey man, before we go, can we pick up _Look Who's Talking_ on Laserdisc?"

Ryu shook his head, "Can you be serious for just one moment?"

"Yeah, but it's Eliza's favorite movie, and I'll be in serious trouble if I didn't get it for the Laserdisc player I bought her for my birthday."

Ryu raised an eyebrow as the two pushed through the curtain leading backstage "You bought her a movie player for your own birthday?"  
"So I like spending time with my wife, why is that so crazy?"

"It's just….nevermind," Ryu said shaking his head

 _Who buys gifts for other people on their own birthday?_ wondered a perplexed Ryu as the walked down the somewhat grimy hall of the arena.

 **9:30 PM**

It had been a thrilling night of boxing action thus-far. Don Flamenco had won the WVBA Title against King Hippo in a huge upset, Mr. Sandman had knocked out Disco Kid in mere seconds, and an Aran Ryan vs Piston Hondo match had ended in a double DQ when, in response to Ryan using a glove loaded with horseshoes, Piston had used a jumping kick to knock Aran out of the ring.

Meanwhile, in the backstage area, not far behind the curtain of one of the entrance ramps, stood Ken (now dressed in his trademarked red gi), Ryu, and Mario. Sitting behind them was Doctor Mario.

"So Ken your match is up-a-next. Make it a good one okay? These crossover bouts draw a ton of money, and the more money we draw the less I have to hear from the owner of this place about renting the building" Mario explained, "Don't worry about injuries, my good man Doctor Mario can cure literally anything instantly."

Doctor Mario looked up from his seated position, nodding eagerly. Before Ken could respond, the ring bell tolled three times.

"Llllladies and gentleman boys and girls," bellowed the ring announcer, dramatically drawing out the 'l', "It seems like mere months ago we watched Little Mac take on the mighty Donkey Kong, and even sooner still, saw the Bronx Brawler go one to a draw with the mysterious Ryu. Now, once again, in a far off land, not hindered by our concept of time, It is Smash Season once again!"

The ring announcer paused to let the crowd cheer, Ken could barely hear anything, much less what Mario had to say, He had caught the term "popular in this market", but Ken could've pieced together that Smash was popular here just by the cheers.

"And now," the announcer continued, "A denizen of our world faces another opponent from far away, under Smash Brothers rules! Whoever is knocked out of the barrier first wins!"

A heavy metal track hit the speakers. Ken came through the curtain, casting a thumbs up at the crowd as he jogged to the ring, leaping over the top rope. This elicited a surprised gasp from the crowd. Ken pumped his fists into the air to the cheers of the crowd. Ken stepped into his corner as the music changed to triumphant trumpets accompanied by a bass guitar. From the opposite entrance ramp came Little Mac, accompanied by a rotund African American man in a red tracksuit, who Ken recognized from the Duel Tournament as Doc Louis. Mac entered the ring after a light jog, fire in his eyes, Mac wordlessly went back into the corner, as the bell rang again.

"Introducing the challenger. From his world's version of Los Angeles California. He is a pupil of the same discipline that produced Ryu. He is KEN MASTERRRRRRS!" bellowed the ring announcer

Ken had to stifle a laugh as muffled boos reached his ears.

 _The crowd's pissed that I'm here, Mac's clearly pissed. Maybe I can work this to my advantage_ thought Ken.

"And introducing the incumbent Smasher. From the Bronx, New York City. Accompanied by one of the all-time greats, Doc Lewis, he is a name that is synonymous with the WVBA, he is LITTLE MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC!"

Uproarious cheers resulted as Mac slowly thrust a fist into the air in solidarity with the crowd. Doc Lewis was up on the ring apron giving Mac some instructions. Mac hadn't broken eye contact with Ken, and the advice of Doc didn't seem to phase him.

"The rules are as follows," stated the announcer, "One stock to a finish. The first one outside the barriers loses. Final Smash Meter rules apply, the more damage you take, the more it fills the meter. When the meter fills completely you will be able to unleash your Final Smash. Do you understand these rules?"

"Yeah!" Ken said, flashing his trademark million-dollar smile and peace sign  
Mac simply nodded

 **3, 2, 1, GO!  
** Mac and Ken met in the center of the ring, each taking their familiar stances. Ken grinned slightly. He knew this next move would throw Mac off  
"Ey!" Ken barked  
Mac's expression changed for a brief second to an inquisitive one  
"C'mon C'mon!" Ken shouted as he used his index finger to flick Little Mac underneath the chin

The crowd booed, and Mac's body tensed. Just as Ken processed his handy work, he was met with a flurry of rights and lefts, too fast for Ken to even comprehend. Almost entirely on reflex, Ken kneed Mac in the gut, grabbed him by the shoulders, falling backward to flip Mac behind him. Mac immediately sprang to his feet. Over the roar of the crowd, Ken could barely hear Doc bellow for Mac to "back it up". Per his trainer's command, Mac retreated into his corner of the ring.

 _Close the gap_ Ken thought  
"HADOUKEN!" shouted Ken, as, out of the cusp of his outstretched hands, an orange fireball appeared, headed in Mac's direction.

Mac, hands in a blocking position, ran at the fireball, before leaping into the air, completely over the fireball.

"Wha-?" Ken gasped in shock

But before he could think on it any further, an outstretched, boxing gloved hand rained down on the top of his head. Ken felt the blast of pain, but before he could register anything, more rights and lefts were raining down on his body. Ken retreated into a corner as even more body blows rained down on him.  
 _Gotta….figure out his rhythm_ groaned Ken inwardly.

Four more body blows, Ken saw Mac rearing back for the next volley. Now was his chance.

"SHORYUKEN!" shouted Ken as he put all of his body weight into a jumping Uppercut

Almost as if in slow motion, Ken could see Mac's face cave to accommodate his fist, and Mac flew backward. Ken did a running leap into the air, raining down on Mac with a kick, and a close-range Hadoken to close out the combination. This sent Mac flying back further. Ken fired off another Hadoken. As Ken expected, Mac dodged it, albeit just barely, and it was meant to graze Mac, to engender whatever carnal emotion came up first.

"Bring it on asshole" Ken breathed with a quick smile

Doc Louis had speed-waddled to the side of the ring Mac was on, near the ropes.

"Mac! Don't do nothin' stupid."

"Gotta hit 'em with Stunning Straight Lunge Doc. Ryu hit me with Focus Punch last time, figurin his buddy's gonna hit me with the same shit."

"Mac you're playing right into his trap,"

"Worst thing'll do is knock me down Doc! I've gotten up from worse!"

Lewis paused, nervously biting his lip, "It's your call kid, go ahead!"

 **In the back**

"Man oh man, this is a good fight!" shouted the usually reserved Doctor Mario

As Ryu silently nodded in agreement, Mario casually removed a Pokeball from the pocket of his overalls, freeing its contents. What emerged was a red bear/dog creature with the humanoid build of a professional wrestler, complete with championship belt made entirely of fire.

"What on Earth is that?" Ryu asked as the thing began to breathe fire from its nostrils

"This is Incineroar-a. From the Alolan islands, on the same planet as Pikachu and those guys. A researcher there loaned him to me"

"What….what're you going to do with him?"

Under his mustache, Mario grinned mischievously, "This is the next phase of Ken's tryout. Does he have experience in fighting-a professional wrestlers?"

"Yes. One of the regular World Warrior contestants is one."

Good," Mario said, as Incineroar huffed and puffed behind him

 **In the ring**

Mac was charging Straight Lunge, Ken knew that from watching the tape of Ryu's tryout. In response, Ken focused his energy. A shadowy aura surrounded him. Mac launched across the ring with the speed of a mortal vehicle. The punch connected with such a noise that it rattled the ring supports. Ken did not budge. Mac had anticipated this. Just wait for the punch. However, Mac's eyes went wide when Ken responded with a kick.

 **WHAM!  
** Mac felt his leg muscles melt to butter as he sunk to his knees. The blow caught him off guard.

 **WHAM**

Another kick, right to the jaw, Mac scrambled up, feeling the power well up in him, It was time for his Star Punch, but wait….was Ken glowing?

Something occurred to Ken as he began to glow. His Smash wrist device, not unlike a watch, indicated damage of both competitors, and Smash Meter for each

Ken was at 80 damage, with a full Smash meter, whereas Mac was at a crisp 65, ready to hit his Star Punch uppercut.

 _It's now or never_ thought Ken.

Ken waited for Mac to close in.

 _NOW!"_

 **"Shippu Jinraikyaku!"**

Ken launched a volley of kicks, culminating into a volley of kicks, which the spinning force of brought both competitors into the air. The final kick launched Mac off-stage and into one of the LED boards suspended near one of the entrances. An explosive "POP" was heard as the body of Little Mac collided with the electronics.

"KEN MASTERS WINS!" the announcer shouted

Judging by the crowd reaction, Ken had turned about half the crowd to his favor. But Ken knew there would always be Little Mac stalwarts in WVBA territory. So, Ken thought, mission accomplished.

Suddenly, the building PA crackled to life, "Incineroar, go-a," came the voice of Mario.

"What?" Ken shouted

That's when he saw him. The hulking bear monster that was Incineroar bolting down to the ring. Incineroar jumped into the air, landing in the ring with a firey "BOOM" and posing for the crowd

"So we're fighting fire with fire huh big guy. Bring it o-"

Ken couldn't even finish his sentence, as Incineroar lunged for him with incredible quickness, grabbing him by the waist, spinning behind him, and hoisting Ken backward to throw him headfirst. Ken had taken his fair share of German Suplexes from the wrestler Zangief. What he'd never experienced from the Russian was not having his hips released, so that he could be pulled into yet another German Suplex. Incineroar went for another, but, as he had in fights with Zangief time and time again, Ken tried to elbow Incineroar in the neck, hoping to break the hold. Incineroar spun him around, pulling him in for a mighty Lariat. At the same time, Ken managed to land a Shoryuken. However, Ken felt consciousness leave him, and his body crumple to the mat. When he got up, Incineroar had only stumbled backward and was running for him again, this time running him into a set of ropes different from the one that belonged to the actual ring. Incineroar tossed a running Ken over his head into the air. Ken landed hard on his back. Only to see Incineroar coming down on him, his meaty arms in an 'X' shape. Ken felt the wind leave his stomach as he desperately coughed. Incineroar had backed off him as Ken rose to his feet, content to pose for the crowd.

Ken wordlessly nailed one more Shoryuken rocking the beast back. Then another. And still another. However, now Incineroar was glowing, just as he had. Incineroar lunged forward, and Ken was whipped off the ropes harder than he ever had before, uppercut into the air, hit with a mighty flying kick, another uppercut, and then finally, brought down to earth with the cross chop he'd been nailed with before, except now he was enveloped into a nuclear inferno. Now, it was Ken's turn to fly into the opposite LED board Mac had earlier before he truly lost consciousness.

 **One hour later**

Ken sprang up. He was on the floor of the arena, and and Ryu stood over him.

"How do you feel?" Ryu asked

"Hungover," moaned Ken

An uncharacteristic grin from Ryu.

"That's Doctor Mario's pills for you. You'll be good after a while."

"Well good!"

"Ken-a, my boy. That was beyond incredible." came the voice of Mario

"You mind telling me what that was?" Ken spat, now furious

"That was Incineroar from the Pokemon planet, and your match with him was his tryout. Plus-a, I wanted to see how you handled adversity. The both of you passed. Welcome to the Smash Brotherhood."

"OOH YEAH! THE BEAST FROM THE ISLAND IS STYLIN BROTHER!" came the voice of Incineroar.

"Jesus, that thing can talk?" moaned Ken as he grabbed his now increasingly throbbing head.

"I-a gave him a translation device. You'll-a get one too, so all Smashers can speak Common English, it's just protocol."

"Dude…Ryu….can we go somewhere and just sleep?"

Ryu raised an eyebrow, "You booked a hotel remember? You wanted to go sightseeing for a couple of days before we reported to the Smashverse."

"Yeah, that's right. Sorry I asked" Ken said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head

Ken got to his feet. He and Ryu began to walk towards the exit when they noticed Mac and Doc Louis headed in the same direction

"Hey Mac, good fight! Sorry about the flick thing. Just thought it'd be fun to piss ya off." Ken chided

Mac shot a look over his shoulder, a playful grin, "You aren't the first person to say that to me, and you won't be the last either. Sorry about bein' pissy in the ring. I was just mad I didn't get the duke over Ryu last time. Now I figure I need to train with you crazy people!"

Ken couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Yeah, man! See you in the Smashverse!" Ken said

Doc and Mac both nodded in agreement as all four men headed out of the building to get some well-deserved rest before the tournament.


	7. Origins: Joker (Part 1)

**Origins: Joker**

 **"** Cloud Strife, you're needed in the Core Machine Room, Cloud Strife, Core Machine Room"

"Agh, damnit"

Cloud lazily got out of bed with a groan. Club sandwich and chips in hand, Cloud was looking to enjoy a big meal in bed and watching television, but alas, it didn't sound like today was that day. He walked down the halls of the Smash Mansion, going deeper and deeper into its storage catacombs. The Core Machine was less of a computer, and more of an entire room, where those who were skilled in the alien machine's use often scouted the going's on of multiple dimensions, the information therein being used to recruit Smashers. Shulk had eagerly explained the technobabble to him when he had arrived something about how it was something The Hands themselves had invented and bequeathed to them.

Regardless of all the science, Cloud knew you were only invited back there if you were integral to a recruitment job.  
As Cloud came to the last set of doors, a transparent glass set of doors that appeared to lead to a laboratory shrouded in pitch-black darkness, he steeled himself, knocking. A Fighting Alloy, a purple jagged featureless robot answered, "Right this way " droned the robot.

As soon as the doors shut, he saw it. On the wall opposite him, a map stretched the entirety of the domed room they were in.

 _No,_ Cloud realized, _Multiple maps_

Whoever was operating the projector was scrolling past maps of planets and continents on those planets.

"Stop. It's-a here" snapped Mario's authoritative voice

The map stopped on an island nation. A dot on the map called "Tokyo," pulsated with a red and black aura.

"Yeh, it's got a pretty distinctive energy signature. Ganondorf, can you feel it?" came the voice of Shulk.

"Yes. By the Goddesses, it's unlike anything I've ever felt before."

"What? Evil?" Mario asked.

"Not just that, bur contempt, lust, greed, all the things the religious would call sin, the focal point was here."

"And you're sure these, "Phantom Thieves" made that crap a-go away?"

"According to the website I found about them. Yes."

"Ganondorf, do you think you could recreate the place this energy came from for our purposes?"

"If you insist Sir Mario," grumbled Ganondorf,

" Shulk, you said something about a website? Can you find out who the owner of the website is?"

"With a bit of digging, yeh."

" _Meraviglioso_ Shulk! I think the final piece to this has arrived!"

With that, the light flipped on Standing to one side was Mario, dressed in a red t-shirt and blue jeans alongside with his trademark work shoes and hat. Standing at a circular computer terminal was Shulk dressed in a white lab coat, while Ganondorf had his hands on a module of the device, what Cloud could only describe as a stovetop, caressing a red and black ball of energy like putty as he idly stared off at nothing.

Mario extended his hand for Cloud to shake. He took it, heartily shaking his friend's hand, "Whaddya need? I was in the middle of lunch!" playfully chided Cloud

"Now Cloud, you know I wouldn't ask a favor of you if I didn't think you were the best guy for-a the job Once Shulk tracks down this kid's website I'm gonna need you to go find him."

"Alright, what do I tell him?"

"Just-a follow dis line of questioning exactly and you'll be alright…"

 **Tokyo, Japan, March 19, Electric Town**

Cloud couldn't help but sneer as he walked past the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, It was like Midgar all over again, and only slightly less smelly. Regardless, after an exhaustive search, Cloud had found the district he was meant to be in and saw the young man he was looking for. Even across the street from the newspaper stand at which the young boy stood, Cloud could see from the boy's meek, awkward demeanor that there'd be no fight here.

 _Good, this is going to be easy_

Cloud crossed the street at a red light. He briefly considered shouting to get the young man's attention but thought better of it.

"Hey," Cloud asked, "Are you, Yuuki Mishima?"

"Uhh, what's it to you?"

"It's about the Phantom Thieves," Cloud said, walking towards Mishima still

"Oh. Well they disbanded, I'm their sysadmin and…"

By now, Cloud was in whispering distance of Mishima's ear

"I know that, I also know about Ren Amamiya, Joker, too" he hissed

Cloud had been in rigorous fights all his life. As such, he could analyze a person's feeling just from their muscle movement, even just on sight. And the young man Mishima went stiff as a board in fear

"Wha? What do you want?" asked Mishima with a nervous swallow

"Tomorrow, I want you to call them, tell 'em that The Metaverse, that world that they always went to is back and there's a job in it for 'em

Cloud withdrew a stack of cash from his trenchcoat pocket, "Here" he said, "This is 500,000 yen, enough for a year of university. I trust you'll do what I asked?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Mishima stammered, his eyes wide with both fear and excitement as he pocketed the cash

Cloud bowed deeply to the young man and about-faced

 _Now, where do I get a decent sandwich around here_ Cloud wondered to himself.

 **Tokyo Japan, March 19 afternoon, somewhere after a toll road**

A van had just begun its journey past a toll booth, but the occupants were far from ordinary. They were the Phantom Thieves of Heart, and adrenaline had just started to simmer

"Still can't believe you opened the door on a toll road" mumbled the athletic blond Ann Takamaki at her companion.

Her companion, the artistic, blue-haired Yusuke Kitagawa, shrugged his shoulders, "Can you blame me? I don't want to do any more work."

"Ann, he's right. We need to do something for Morgana." Ren piped in from the middle of the former Phantom Thieves of Heart were occupying

Ann immediately calmed, her uptight demeanor giving way to a sweet, almost motherly demeanor. Meanwhile, Morgana, the team's talking, sometimes mystical cat perked up.

"Me? Why?"

"Because!" shouted Haru Okumaru, the tiny brunette of the group, "Poor wittle Morgana lived like a street cat for Lord knows how long"

"Yeah!" Ryuji Sakamoto, a lanky yet muscular blond shouted, "We're like, two hours from Yokohama right? Why don't we make a mini road trip out of it? There are cat cafes as far as the eye can fuckin' see!"

"It's settled then. We go to Yokohama and Morgana eats like a king." Makoto Nijima, the driver of the car proclaimed

"I second that notion!" Morgana shouted licking his lips.

Ryuji pierced the silence, "Ey if it's okay with everyone else, I'm gonna catch some winks before we hit Yokohama, I feel like I haven't slept since before final exams"

"Yeah" Ren agreed, "Same here"

And with that, he drifted off to sleep

 **Yokohama, 7 PM**

"URRRRP!"

"Ryuji you disgusting pig!" shouted Morgana

"Hey, he isn't the one that farted so loud in the café everyone noticed!" shouted Futaba

Ren laughed, "They'd spent most of the evening sampling all the cat cafes around town, at Morgana's request. Now, they were walking down the sidewalk of a quaint older neighborhood, headed back to the van.

'Guys, calm down, we need to…" Makato began, but she was cut off by a yawn, "Geez, I'm tired. I don't think I could drive another minute"

"Well, I'm not drivin" snapped Ryuji, which caused Yusuke and Futaba to roll their eyes simultaneously

"You're not even old enough, idiot," snapped Futaba

"I'm just sayin' I ain't." snapped back Ryuji

"Yokohama is known for its campgrounds" Haru interjected, "I could buy us all gear from a camping shop, we could spend the night someplace, and be back on the road first thing in the morning."

"I agree with that plan" Yusuke half-heartedly said, as he was pulling out his sketchbook to sketch a bird that had landed on a nearby street lamp.

"Oh wow, I haven't gone camping since I was a kid!" Ann shouted, her excitement palpable in the air now

"Ugh, I've never been camping, all the bugs, and humidity and…"

"Futaba I think you've been summarily outvoted. That, and no one wants to drive, so we're doing it anyway"

"Some President you are…" mumbled Futaba

Playfully, Makato stuck her tongue out at the younger girl.

"If you'll allow me to take point on this…erm, mission, I studied camping gear while planning outings for my coffee bean excursions"

 **Yokohama 10:15 PM**

Ren reminisced on the rest of the night as he put on his sleep shirt. Haru had quickly bought all the camping gear, and so the rest of the evening was spent around a campfire in the wilderness at a campground, telling stories, reminiscing on the Phantom Thieves, and somewhat annoyingly, listening to the 8-bit sounds of a handheld video game Futaba insisted on playing instead of enjoying nature.

Now, inside of a tent the young man formally known as Joker watched as his girlfriend and tent-mate super model Ann Takamaki walked over to him, snuggling pulling him close, nuzzling into his chest

"Ren, babe, I think it was really nice that you gave Morgana a nice day out."

Ren grinned, "He can be obnoxious sure, but he's the lynchpin of our group. If he hadn't shown up The Phantom Thieves wouldn't be a thing"

Ann grinned back, "Sure, Morgana might be a founder, but don't sell yourself short. You held the crew together in the worst of times"

Ren's grin widened, "You gonna make a special day for me now?"

Ann smiled lightly slapping Ren on the arm, "Maybe someday" she chided, "But for now, let's just get to sleep. Makato is gonna want to leave early in the morning, and half the morning is gonna be dragging Ryuji out of his tent."

Ren chuckled, "For sure," he said as he and Ann tucked into their sleeping bags.

A few moments of silence and then

"Ren?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, baby."

"Love you too Ann" Ren whispered as he went to sleep.

 **Unknown location**

His dream was like a chalk outline, of a place familiar, but not of a pleasant familiarity. Ren had been here before, under extreme duress.

 _A prison? The Velvet Room? No_

Ren refused to believe it. The Velvet Room had dissipated, along with the rest of the dimension that occupied the Holy Grail and other supernatural forces they'd encountered. Surely, this was all fiction, right?

Suddenly, a chalk drawing of a man appeared from nowhere. The man almost looked like a mythological hunchback, stumpy and short, with yellow, piercing eyes and a disturbingly long nose.

"Igor? I thought you were dead" Ren asked.

"I-I a-a-a-a-t thou. And thou a-a-a-r-t-t-t I" stammered the voice of Igor, "Y-y-y-o-u-r….time isn't…..over…..thievesssssss."

 **Back at the campground**

"MORGANA, HOLY SHIT"

Joker bolted up, hearing the scream of Futaba

The rest of the Phantom Thieves jolted out of their tents, peering inside of Futaba and Morgana's Morgana had somehow transformed into the form he had taken in the realm of Mementos, with a shocked expression splayed across his rather cartoonish face.

"I….I…" stammered Morgana

"I-I-I went to bed, Morgana was helping keep the mosquitos away and then I woke up and then I…"  
"Futaba, w-we need to keep calm. There's gotta be some explanation as to why."

"Yeahhhh, but how are we gonna get Morgana out of here? Put him in a burlap sack?"

"RYUJI!" shouted Ann

"No, Ryuji is probably right…" Haru began

Yusuke, who had stealthily snuck back to his tent called out, "Does anyone else have several missed calls from Mishima?"

Joker went back to the tent, turning on his phone, and saw that he had had six missed calls from Mishima since midnight.

As if on cue, Joker's phone rang. It was Mishima

Joker scrambled to answer the call, "Is anything weird going on in your end because…?" Ren began

"DUDE I KNOW BUT LISTEN" shrieked Mishima, "Some weird guy paid me money to tell you The Metaverse would be coming back and there was a job in it for you all"

"Guys, um…." Makoto piped in, "Check your phones"

An app had installed on all their phones, a white logo with a black, off-center crosshair

"This isn't the Metaverse app.." deduced Ann

"That symbol can't be what I think it is" nervously squeaked Futaba

"What do you think it is Futaba?" asked Morgana

"Never mind" blubbered Futaba, "It's a video game thing, and it literally cannot be connected to the Metaverse. It's too impossible"

"Guys, we need to access the app regardless of theory. I think this and whatever happened to Morgana are connected to that man Mishima ran into. Be prepared for anything.

Simultaneously, they all accessed the app. Like in The Metaverse, the world transformed around them. Gone was the campground, instead replaced with a desolate hallway. Gone were their sleep clothes, replaced with their Phantom Thieves gear.

"Ugh, more work…" Yusuke groaned

"Morgana. form up on me. We'll be taking point!" Ren shouted

"You got it, Joker!" Morgana shouted

With that, they bolted down the hallway. After seemingly several minutes, they came upon a pitch-black room at the other end of the hallway. The only light was a spotlight, and centered in that spotlight was an envelope.

"Is this gonna be a boss key or…" openly pondered Futaba

Joker held a finger to his lips, stepping into the spotlight, and picking up the envelope. When he did, the lights came on. Joker's head shot up, they were in a blank, sterile-looking, dome of a room, for the exception of an observation deck located a floor up.

"So, I presume you're the one a-known as Joker of the Phantom Thieves," a voice came from an unknown speaker system.

"That voice. It can't be…"

"Yeah, that'd be me. State your business."

"My-a name is Mario Mario and I'm what you might consider the leader of an organization called the Smash Bros."

A very loud 'squee' came from Futaba while the clammering began.

"WHAT? SMASH BROS?" shouted Ryuji.

"OH MY GOD HOW DID IN NOT NOTICE THAT?" Ann laughed to herself, "I suppose, like Futaba said, it was pretty far outside the realm of possibility, but geez!"

"So, we have some recognition in your world, I see?" Mario pondered.

"Yeah, as fictional characters."

"We are-a far from fiction Joker. We were able to detect your exploits when you destroyed The Metaverse. The a-sudden disappearance of evil energy that happened, as a result caught our attention. We'd like to induct you as a main member, with the rest of the Phantom Thieves as auxiliary members."

"WE'LL TAKE IT! WE'LL TAKE IT! OH EM GEE WE'LL TAKE IT!" screamed Futaba, seemingly snapping out of a trance

"Yeah, we'll take it." Joker quickly said, trying to sound more professional than Futaba. "I assume there'll be some kind of test"

Mario chuckled, "Very perceptive. You'll have a match under-a normal rules against the first person who volunteers."

"I will. Something about his aura seems…off" a gravelly voice growled

"Okay, Lucario, please-a step on the teleportation pad."

There was a pause and a blinding flash of light. When the light cleared, a blue-furred creature with the body of a human but the face of a wolf was sneering at him, arms and legs poised as if he was about to take flight.

"Okay Joker, we're going to test out the stage we've chosen to represent you, Momentos" came the voice of Mario once again.

As if by magic, a device resembling a wristwatch appeared on Joker's wrist.

"This is-a your damage a-meter. Pay attention to your percentage, the higher you go, the more likely you are to be knocked off. Your damage resets after each knockout. The first person to-a knock their opponent off the stage 3 times a-wins. You get the Smash membership if you a-win. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm glad. Now, everyone who isn't Joker and Lucario, please move out into the hallway. You'll be lead to one of our suites where you all can watch the fight

The Phantom Thieves all muttered among themselves as they were led away by an Alloy who had materialized into the room. The only one who turned away was Ann, who blew a kiss to Joker, mouthing, "You got this."

As Joker shot Ann a mischievous grin, the rest of the Thieves took the final steps out of the room as a blast door loudly sealed him into the room. Joker steeled himself. Whether or not the Phantom Thieves would be able to help the world again depended entirely on his aptitude in a completely unfamiliar environment.

Joker laughed to himself as he realized something that made all of his fear melt away _I shot God in the face on Christmas Eve, I should be fine_.


	8. Origins: Joker (Part 2)

Joker immediately became overwhelmed by the sights and sounds around him as the domed room faded from view, and was replaced unending darkness only by a glossy, modern computer matrix font in the distance

 **Rules: 3 Stock, Items: Smash Ball, low Bob-ombs, low . No Time Limit**

 **Stage: Momentos**

 **Music: "Get Up, Get Out There"**

 **Loading…**

As the word "loading' hung in the air, Joker glanced over at Lucario. The blue fox humanoid was standing in a meditative pose, his eyes closed as his wrist burned with blue flame

Suddenly, the world of Momentos snapped into view. Lucario was standing across the polygonal platform, his chest now forward, arms spread, letting out a quick growl

"I'm ready for ya!" Joker shouted

 **3**

Lucario frowned

 **2**

Joker tightened his grip around his holstered gun

 **1**

Both competitors stiffened, as to break into a sprint

 **GO!**

Lucario sprinted forward. Joker unholstered his gun, firing the weapon at Lucario. Seemingly, the bullets did nothing as the Pokemon advanced forward. Joker leaped into the air, allowing his body to spiral downward, firing the gun onto Lucario as he fell.

 **Joker: 0%, 3 stocks**

 **Lucario: %10, 3 stocks**

Joker shook his head as he briefly looked at his wrist device, _Can't afford to be distracted_ he thought

Joker ran at Lucario, who had stepped away, and continued to step away. Similarly, on instinct, Joker found himself darting backward when Lucario attempted to close the gap.

Joker snapped his fingers, and a pebble-sized burst of dark energy appeared, colliding with Lucario. Lucario's eyes went wide as Joker closed the gap with two lunging kicks in rapid succession. Again, Joker snapped his fingers but found that Lucario struck a wild karate-esque stance, disappearing, and sliding into his shins with a sliding sweep. Joker felt himself flying backward as if he were on the moon. Lucario leaped into the air, thrusting his palm into his chest. A blast rocketed from his palm. Everything seemed to slow down around Joker as he felt the impact as if he'd been punched directly in the heart. Joker fell to a 3-point stance on the ground. With a carnal roar, Lucario leaped into the air. Joker unsheathed his knife now, and threw the blade into the air, catching Lucario off guard. Next, Joker leaped into the air, catching his knife and twisting his body to hit Lucario multiple times with a kick. Again, Joker fell to the ground in a three-point stance. Unlike last time, however, a blue aura trailed behind, seemingly propelling the creature like a rocket. Acting on instinct, Joker pulled out his grappling hook, shooting to catch the Pokemon out of the air. He succeeded, but Lucario was expecting it, as again, he struck his kata as Joker reeled back to land an elbow strike as his opponent was pulled in.

And then Joker felt it. His pain threshold was at maximum, and that can only mean one thing

" **PERSONA!"** Joker bellowed

In a brief flash of blue flame, a bat-winged demon wearing a tophat appeared. Lucario's eyes widened, as he noticed that Joker's masquerade mask had also disappeared, leaving Lucario to stare directly into firey, passion-filled eyes that hadn't been present in Joker's demeanor before.

"I see your flames have grown stronger Lucario" shouted Joker, "I'd assume that's what you meant by Aura? Well? Come then! Do something!"

Lucario roared, using Extreme Speed. But, the top hat-wearing demon spread its wings, flying in the opposite direction away. As his Extreme Speed came to a stop, he darted back to where he was, charging up an Aura Sphere, maxing out its power, and firing the ball. Joker pressed his finger to his temple, and the blue flames rose up again this time bouncing the Aura Sphere back at Lucario. He didn't have much time to react as the ball made of pure energy collided with him, blasting him out of the blast zone.

 **Joker: 3 Stocks**

 **Lucario: 2 stocks**

Meanwhile, in the control room, an 80-seat auditorium above the domed room, all the veterans were watching the movie theater screen which displayed the fight. In front, hunched over a computer monitor were Mario and Shulk

"What was that-a? Is that what a Persona is?" asked a shocked Mario

"As I understand, that's the one they call Arsene, Ren's first Persona."

Mario put his hand to his chin and thought,

"And how are the other Phantom Thieves?"

Shulk wordlessly patched the camera feed on his computer through to one of the luxury viewing boxes, where the rest of the Phantom Thieves sat, in silence

"Other than the one calling Ryuji saying some things I wouldn't let Isabelle hear in surprise, and the cat shushing him, they've had their eyes glued to the screen."

Mario smiled, "Attentive a-young people, I like it. The cat is a-money, he should be out there with Joker in a taunt capacity. What do you think?"

"Wouldn't be the worst idea in the world sir," Shulk said with a grin, "Also, the orange-haired girl has a laptop out"

Mario frowned, brushing his mustache in thought, "Can she hack any of our systems?"

"I mean….perhaps? Not everyone with a laptop is a-"

"If she does, let it play out"

"What?" Joker gasped

"If she tries to hack the battlefield system, stop it obviously, but beyond that, see what she does"

"Y-yes sir"

After Lucario felt a sensation of complete darkness, he found himself on the recovery platform, glaring down at Joker, who stood confident on the leftmost edge of the field. He closed his eyes. He felt the demon, likely what he had unknowingly sensed in the young man's Aura before, growing weaker. He let himself grin as it disappeared.

"Return" he heard Joker say

This intrigued Lucario

 _Such a young man, with such control of his power. No matter._

Lucario leaped to Joker's position, reaching out for another Force Palm. As it had before, energy pulsed up Lucario's arm, and into Joker's chest. Unlike last time, a flash of blue light right at the point of impact. And then nothing.  
"What?" growled Lucario, grabbing the already weakened Joker. Slugging him a few times in the stomach for good measure and throwing him across the arena into the blast zone.

 **Lucario: 2 stocks**

 **Joker; 2 stocks**

The second the knockout was confirmed, Lucario began to charge and Aura Sphere. As he had predicted, Joker came to his next stock guns blazing. Lucario sidestepped the blows by hopping backward, continuing to charge the Aura Sphere. As he finished, Joker ran forward, hitting him with his running two kick combo. Lucario let the first kick hit him and struck his parry pose just as the second kick connected. Joker's eyes widened briefly, which gave Lucario the opportunity to grab him, this time, slamming Joker into the ground. Joker bounced into the air. In synch with this, Lucario leaped into the air, letting off a series of aura infused stretching kicks, knocking Joker farther and farther to one side of the stage. Wordlessly, Arsene appeared again, spreading his wings, flying Joker towards Lucario, which Lucario could only sidestep. Lucario bolted to center stage where Joker was, only to be hit with a much more explosive version of a Joker's finger-snapping move earlier. It felt as though the pain had enveloped his entire body. Now it was Joker's turn to grab and pummel Lucario, throwing him up into the air, and hitting him with a raised fist. As Joker flew further into the air, Lucario once again flew into the air with Extreme Speed. Now, as Joker hit the floor and scrambled to his feet, Lucario grabbed Joker, hammering him a few times in the gut, and bicycle kicking him in the jaw, sending him up into the air. Lucario followed suit, jumping himself As he flew, he felt the air around him rumble, as if he were on the ground. That's when a ceiling, similar in hue to the general area's red and black, came into view. Lucario body checked Joker with Extreme Speed, sending him flying into the wall, and down again. Lucario had it perfectly timed, launching his Aura Sphere. A flash of blue light surrounded his opponent, and his Aura Sphere came flying right back at him. Lucario felt his burning Aura connect, pushing him towards the left most corner of the new ceiling. Lucario had "teched" a maneuver like this before, but not on this new stage, not when the wall wasn't something he had prepared for. Lucario felt the shock of hitting the corner of the wall, as he flew into the lower abyss of the blast zone.

 **Joker: 2 stocks**

 **Lucario: 1 Stock**

Meanwhile, The Smashers were watching intently, as Shulk and Mario manned the computer, "Hm. Joker's adapting better than I thought he would. Then, I suppose you don't go from high school kid to subconscious altering thief without learning how to adapt,"

"Touche my friend. Now, let's see what happens when we introduce items," Mario said, a mischievous smirk overtaking his lips.

Lucario appeared on the recovery platform again, middle stage. Joker was to his rightmost point, where a Bob-omb had just appeared at the stage's left most point. Joker's Persona had disappeared, and he had taken notice of the Bob-omb but seemed confused. Lucario let the platform de-materialize underneath him, casually stepping to where the Bob-omb was. He ran at Joker, Joker ran at him. Lucario through the bomb. As the explosive sailed through the air, Lucario saw Joker activate his countering shield, but half a second too late, as the arcane energy dissipated just as the bomb connected with the young man. Joker flew first horizontally and then ambled down. Suddenly, he removed another device from his pocket. The device fired a grappling hook, which connected onto the ledge of the stage, and hoisted Joker up. Lucario bolted, jumping above Joker, and shooting as much aura energy as he could down, knocking a surprised Joker to the blast zone.

 **Joker: 1 stock**

 **Lucario: 1 stock**

Meanwhile, in the luxury box which maintained the rest of the Phantom Thieves, a thick silence hung in the air

"God, I hate items" Ryuji groaned

Makato angrily shushed him, "Don't be surprised if we see items in the next round"

"Hm?" Yusuke asked

"This is a test. A test that's being created live as it happens. Whoever's controlling the playing field no doubt noticed items are the one thing Ren didn't plan for."

"Makato-san, you're right. Look!" piped the voice of Haru

Onscreen, Bob-ombs had littered the playing field, almost as often as either competitor could throw them. Damage percentage was already in the high sixties for both Lucario and Joker. The room again fell silent, broken as soon as it began by an extra-mischievous, "heh heh heh" from Futaba, who was tinkering with her laptop

"Futaba?" nervously asked Ann, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Let's just say if this ends how I _think_ it's going to end, the Smashers are in for one hell of a surprise."

"That laugh of yours is both mystifying and equal parts terrifying," Yusuke said, a worried tone lingering in his usually smooth voice

"Yeah, but cool shit usually happens! I can't wait!" Ryuji declared

"Only if Ren wins" warned Futaba

Back on the artificially created Momentos, Bob'ombs had begun to appear on the battlefield, and, to put it frankly, it had been a war. Arsene had appeared relatively early, and several times. By the same token, Lucario's recovery and use of Extreme Speed had only been aided by the high damage. A bright, rainbow-colored orb had appeared. Lucario had immediately taken notice of it, charging an Aura Sphere. When it appeared to be full power, Lucario launched the sphere.

 _He's trying to break it_ Joker thought, his fingers drumming on his gun.

The sphere connected with the multi-colored orb, crack it.

"NOW!"

Joker leaped into the air, pointing his body down, and spinning in the air firing a barrage of shots down at the ball. The ball broke, its multi-colored energy latching itself onto Joker.

"Woah. I've never felt power like this."

As Joker fell to the ground, he looked at his wrist device.

 **Joker: %120, 1 stock**

 **Lucario: %120, 1 stock**

"NO! NO!" Lucario bellowed, sprinting towards

Joker closed his eyes, letting the power overtake him, as he would when allowing a Persona to use their most feared attack. As if carried by a supernatural force, Joker dashed towards Lucario, slashing him It was then that he felt the presence of Ann and Yusuke beside him.

"Time for an all-out attack!" he heard Futaba shout

The three attacked Lucario with as much speed and power as they could muster, with Joker delivering one slash, adjusting his blood to watch the demonic ooze pour as he had so many times before.

" **THE SHOW'S OVER!"**

 **"GAME!"**

Mario couldn't help but chuckle as Shulk fidgeted with the computer controls "What what what? They went to the Victory courtyard, but it's stuck on the screen."

"Can you still pull up stats and purses?"

"Y-yeah but I can't see J-"

"Stow yourself Shulk, this is what the girl called Futaba was doing!"

"WOAH! THAT LOOKS SO COOL!" Ness bellowed, his eyes fixated on the screen, which hard a red and grey hued Joker with a shit-eating grin on his face, while Lucario seemed to pour sparkles from a wound

"And that," Mario concluded, looking over his shoulder at a slackjawed Ness, "Is all I need to see that The Phantom Thieves and their-a tricks are gonna be money with the 18-30 demo. Shut down the simulation Shulk."

Shulk laughed, "You're starting to sound more like Master Hand every day sir"

Joker found himself standing the middle of the domed room, what the room had been before it became Momentos. He found himself face to face with short, red-clad, man with a mustache

"Joker," he said, extending his hand, "Allow me to be the first to welcome you and your team to the Smash a-Brotherhood!"

Joker shook the hand in turn, "We're happy to be here"

Suddenly, a door opened. Ann was the first through, followed by Futaba and the others. Ann first leaped to hug Joker, as did the others. The group hug jumped up and down in celebration as Joker laughed

"I knew you could do it dude!" shouted Ryuji

"And if he knows something, everyone can figure it out' quipped Morgana

Ryuji shot him a playful look as Mario cleared his throat, "So, a few things you should know before we begin here. For the tournament you'll be staying in a suite, you'll all be getting your own bedrooms within the suite. Also, this place exists outside of what's traditionally a-known as time-space, so you'll lose no summer vacation time. Also, Morgana, would you be comfortable accompanying Joker and taunting opponents occasionally"

"I'd follow this kid to the ends of the earth Mister Mario!" agreed Morgana

"Woah! For real? We won't lose vacation " shouted Ryuji

Mario chuckled, "For real indeed. Now, let's go meet the group"

Mario snapped his fingers, and another door opened on the opposite wall. The Phantom Thieves followed Mario through and found that a small flight of stairs lead to the observation deck, where all the other Smashers sat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please a-welcome Joker, and new auxiliary members, The Phantom Thieves of Heart!'

With that, the occupants of the auditorium filtered towards the front, everyone eager to chat with their new allies. Ren and Ann caught a glimpse of each other in the forming crowd, nodding to one another. This would be the adventure of their lives.


	9. Origins: Erdrick

Origins: Erdrick

 **Smash Mansion, catacombs**

The Fighting Wire Frame opened the sliding glass door, and Link stepped through. When he did, he immediately noticed Mario and Shulk hunched over a computer monitor in the throughs of conversation

"…and if we layer this universe by dimensions, you can see there's a middle point…."

"Where they're-a connecting. Interesting…" Mario said to his blond counterpart, rubbing his chin

"You…uh….wanted to see Mario" sheepishly interrupted Link.

Mario sprang from his huddled over position, "Ah!" Link!" he shouted with his usual gleeful greeting, "We've-a got a mission for you," he said, gesturing to the computer.

Link took a space next to the duo to look at the monitor. On the screen appeared to be a list of names, none of which Link recognized

"Hand Protocols." Link sighed

Shulk nodded, "Indeed! This is another one of the dimensions Hand's been keeping an eye on since before he kicked the bucket. This is one of the oldest, up there with guys like Cloud's old entry"

Link raised an eyebrow, "And this one is special because…?"

"Of all the dimensions Hand's been keeping an eye on, this one has had the most consistent ebb and flow of good to evil energy, in that evil will appear and be vanquished by good, every couple 'a-years. But it came up on our radar because there's a small space in which the dimensions are converging and de-converging."

"We think" Shulk piped in, "That means there's some sort of cabal going on. We don't know _exactly_ what it's about, but we can deduce it's in line with our business."

Shulk typed a button combination on the computer, and on the big screen came an image of a man with spikey hair, a multi-colored tunic, holding an ancient-looking sword

"This is our newest recruit. Erdrick of Alefgard. He's one of the many heroes to take the name Erdrick, the name of an ancient hero, but Master Hand had his eye on this-a guy specifically."

Link frowned, "And I'm doing the recruiting? Why do I do all the sword guy recruiting? Marth and I had to recruit this guy", Link said, gesturing to Shulk, "Dark Pit, Palutena, and many others? Why me?"

Mario smirked, "I suppose you'd have me send Samus and her arm cannon from space to these guys who's idea of advanced technologically is a weather vein."

Link thought about it for a moment, "You do have a point."

"Plus," Mario countered, "You're-a the best swordsmen I know. Never forget that _fratello_ "

Link smiled, which prompted smiles from both of the other men in the room, Mario broke the silence, "So get some sleep, we'll let you know when this cabal gets back together, and you're gonna drop in on 'em."

Link nodded, "Will do boss," said the Hyrule warrior, as he about-faced out of the room.

For the past month, the man known as Erdrick had had a dream. A dream of a young man with an ornate shield being overtaken by puppets of darkness. The area was familiar to him as he watched. It was a lush, green, field, with the only thing differentiating it from any other field in Alefgard were some ancient ruins scattered about. Men like him rushed to help, but he was the lynchpin.

He had become familiar with the men too. If he wasn't having _that_ dream, he was whisked away to some magical place where he conversed with those men about the dream. Even though in the dream he had three allies, around the oaken table sat ten other men Frankly, Erdrick found the meetings boring, despite his great respect for the men. They had ascertained that each of them was a Luminary, connected either spiritually or ancestrally to Erdrick the Great, the hero of legend who had first vanquished evil in Alefgard centuries ago. Beyond those revelations, however, the meetings were never very productive, especially when it came to discussing the dream, as all nine of his counterparts were as confused as he. That was, until one night.

"Aye, looks like we're back 'ere again" moaned a red bandana clad young man, one of the men from the dream.

"I've put some thought into this gentlemen" began a young man clad in a black and purple mage outfit, "And I believe we've all been summoned here because we're needed in a cataclysmic struggle of some kind."

"Well" snarled a green-haired man, slamming his fist down onto the oaken table, "Why don't dis cataclysm show itself instead of just summonin' us here like a bunch o' mangy jackasses?

As if on cue, a light shown in the barren, marble room in which they resided. Out of the light stepped a young man with scruffy, blond hair. But, Erdrick recognized something familiar immediately.

"That shield," remarked Erdrick, "You're the man from the dream"

"Aye" sleepily remarked the stranger, "I be Link. I'm looking for the man named Erdrick

"That be me," said Erdrick

Link smirked, "Should've figured the most observant one was the one Mario wanted. Erdrick, I come to you because, as the youngest of you determined, you are needed for assistance with a great cataclysm that is yet to come. In the meantime, however, we would like you to participate in a tournament amongst all of our members. Do you accept?"

Erdrick opened his mouth to speak, but the rude green-haired man cut him off, "Oi! Why him 'an not me? Or any of us for zat matter?"

That set off a chain of hushed bickering around the oaken table. Erdrick looked to Link, who looked incredibly tired, and not in the mood to interject.

"ENOUGH!" boomed a man in an orange helmet, "Erdrick hath been chosen for a reason, one that is too grand for any of us to comprehend! Instead of bickering like children, I propose, nay, demand, that we all provide our assistance to Erdrick. Our adventuring days have long since passed by varying degrees, so if we can save the world one last time by giving our knowledge, then that is what I suggest we do!"

A murmur of agreement pursed the room as Link offered a hand for Erdrick to take. Erdrick stood slowly from his position at the table, walking over to Link, and taking his hand in solidarity.

"Now, I'm no expert on the magic mumbo jumbo. However, I think it'd be safe to assume you're all interconnected somehow, and that you can talk to Erdrick without summoning him here. Now, Erdrick, if you just hang on a minute here."

"Hang on to wha-?"

Link snapped his fingers, and in a brilliant light, the two teleported away. When the light dissipated, Erdrick found himself in a courtyard in an enormous mansion in the dead of night

"This is the Smash Mansion. You'll be residing here until the tournament concludes at the very least. Now, you'll get a room assignment eventually, but not tonight, so you can crash on my floor."

"Crash?" confusedly asked Erdrick.

Link sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Don't worry about it, it was difficult for me to pick up on other people's verbiage when I first came here. Anyway, I've set aside space for you to sleep. Please follow me."

Then, seemingly at his verbal command, the doors swung open, and the two walked inside. As the doors shut behind them, Erdrick noticed the crest that had been in the courtyard also stood in the middle of the foyer. Link pressed some buttons on a keypad he had on his wrist as they stepped into the middle of the crest. Another flash of light ensued, except this time when they were in a bedroom when it dissipated. Two lush looking king-sized beds occupied the room, with space in between them. One of the beds was occupied by a small child, who murmured and turned at their sudden entrance. Link nonchalantly gestured at the space between the beds as he flopped into his own. Erdrick nodded, getting as comfortable as he could.

 _I've slept in worse inns, that's for sure_ thought Erdrick with a grin as he drifted off to sleep.


	10. Origins: Banjo and Kazooie

**Origins: Banjo**

It was a sunny day in the Spiral Mountain region, a deserted rural county on the outer rims of the Isle O' Hags. A lone, brightly painted cabin stood at the bottom of the intimidating mountain. Under the shade of the house was a bear, wearing a pair of yellow shorts, perched beside him was an orange bird, with yellow wingtips. Between them was a sizeable jar of lemonade, about 3/4s full. Suddenly, the sugary drink started to ripple as the sound of a plane could be heard roaring overhead. Banjo squinted, and he could see the source of the noise was a somewhat rickety-looking red biplane. The biplane came to an artful landing near inches away. Banjo's eyes widened when he noticed the person piloting the plane.

"Diddy!" the bear called out, his muscular arm waving in the air/

Diddy leaped out of the cockpit and on to the ground, envelope in hand.

"This is Diddy Kong? Thought he'd be bigger" sarcastically squawked the bird.

"Kazooie, don't be rude to our guest"

Diddy smirked, "You forget who my old man is. I'm used to a bit of rudeness"

"Uh….who're your friends?" asked Banjo, who appeared to be looking behind Diddy

Out of the cockpit leaped a brown hunting dog and a waterfowl, the fowl perched onto the dog's back.

"Oh! That's Otis and Mikey, collectively known as The Duck Hunt Duo"

"I coulda told you that!" snapped Kazooie " _Somebody_ couldn't be arsed to get out of bed to watch the tournament at Mumbo's Hut a few years back!"

"I was busy training…" whined Banjo, "And my sleep schedule was messed up cause of it"

"Excuses excuses," said Kazooie with a sneer, "AND YOU!"

"Me?" asked Diddy, as the Duck Hunt Duo approached from behind

"Yeah, you! You bring these bootlegs on our doorstep, and for what? Just to rub it on our…?"

Diddy wordlessly retrieved an envelope from a fanny pack, flipping the envelope around to reveal a Smash logo

"JINJO ON A CRACKER!" squealed Kazooie, excreting a blue egg in excitement,

"Guh-huh!" cheered Banjo, "Wow, it's finally time eh? Was startin' to wonder if you'd forgotten about your ole pal Banjo"

"Nah, Donkey Kong's dealings with the Mushroom Kingdom keep me outta local geopolitics"

"But unfortunately," Otis began "That's what we came here to talk to you guys about."

Immediately, Banjo's expression darkened as did Kazooie's, "Conker"

"You know?" Otis inquired.

"We don't know all the details, but we figured. He made an offer to us to join his high court when he became king, but I wasn't too sure about it." Banjo said, his voice somber.

"Yeah, Banjo's told me his stories about you all a million times and even I could tell second hand this wasn't the same Conker."

"Plus we wanted to stay retired except for the car thing…" Banjo began

"Oh Jinjo, the car thing!" moaned Kazooie

"Car….thing?" asked Diddy

"The data L.O.G collected" Mikey piped up

"Wait, you know L.O.G?" Banjo asked incredulously

"Know him? L.O.G was Master Hand in disguise! Mario's taken his position since, but Master Hand's been collecting data on you guys since the first tourney!" Otis explained

"Well isn't that a fun little twist?" Banjo chided

"Yeah, if you like bad fanfiction " mumbled Kazooie

"ANYWAY," Diddy piped in. "Conker's been in control of the Smash Core off and on for about five years now. He recently restored Gruntilda and Wizpig to full form. We fear he's gathering up a roster of villains from universes in which they won."

"What I wanna know is if there's a tourney!" squawked Kazooie, violently flapping her wings in place.

"Yeah!" Otis said gleefully, "That's kinda our cover! Interdimensional sports league by day! Interdimensional crime-fighting league by night."

"Fantastic! We'd be happy to join ya!" Banjo explained

Kazooie rubbed her talons together, "Eheehee. Mumbo's gonna bet against us for sure. Time to rob that mumbling shaman blind!"

"Kazooie!" shouted Banjo

"Oh man, if you think she's bad, you should try and meet Wario" Diddy proclaimed with a knowing smirk.

"Trust me, I'm used to it. And besides, Kazooie's the best friend you could ever have. And…who's Wario?"

"Trust me, you don't want to meet him" Otis whimpered.

A moment's silence on the three-rowed passenger plane and…

"Hey…Kazooie, do you wanna, maybe…build a nest sometime?"

"Blow it out your-"  
"KAZOOIE!" Banjo shouted as Spiral Mountain disappeared into the distance.


	11. Origins: Sans

**Origins: Sans**

It was a few hours past midnight, and all was silent in the Smash Mansion. Those who had arrived had all settled into their rooms, sound asleep. Such was the case for one of the biggest suites in the mansion, where, on the large bed with a luxurious curtained canopy, Mario Mario and Princess Peach lay, Peach snuggled into Mario's chest. Suddenly, a wrist device, similar to a watch, began to ring, flashing a neon blue light in its center as it did. Peach groaned, rolling off of Mario, placing a pillow on her head in some vain attempt to stop the noise. Mario meanwhile, sleepily scrambled over to the bedside table, fumbling for a few seconds before pressing the center button. When he did, the metallic face of ROB appeared on the screen. ROB was the night watchman of the technologies that The Hands had invented. As he was a robot powered by a perpetual energy source of an alien nature, he didn't need sleep. That aside, ROB was a prudent, no-nonsense sort, and he wouldn't contact him if it wasn't important.

"ROB?" a tired Mario groaned out.

"Master Mario, I do not mean to intrude upon your sleep cycle, but there's an anomaly that the Core Machine is tracking, which requires your attention immediately."

"Grrgh. I'll be right down-a" mumbled Mario, throwing on a bathrobe as he scuttled out of the suite and down the hall.

 **The Core Machine Room**

It had taken him longer than he would've liked, but Mario finally came through the sliding glass doors of the Core Machine Room, to find ROB staring unblinkingly at a map. Mario briefly glanced up at it, as he could see a blue dot ping-ponging across multiple maps of multiple universes.

"ROB-a….what can even do that?" tiredly asked Mario

"According to energy signatures I've been able to pick up in the brief time it is immobile, it's almost identical to our Core Machine."

Mario felt a coldness wash over him.

"Conker?" Mario asked, barely able to get the words out

"Negative. Your realm is being monitored, and the energy signature did not originate from there."

"Where did it originate from then?"

"Unknown."

"How much time until it gets here?"

"Seconds, assuming he picks up on our Core Machine's energy signature. Shall I sound an alarm?"

Mario held up his hand, "No. We determine if it's hostile, and we go from there"

"Affirmative.'

Suddenly, a blue light erupted from seemingly nowhere, blinding Mario briefly. When he regained his sight, he saw a short skeletal figure standing on a much smaller version of the circular Core Machine he, Shulk and others often stood in. The skeleton was smiling widely, wearing a blue housecoat, with a t-shirt underneath it, shorts, socks, and house slippers.

"Sup?" said the skeleton man in a slow, apathetic drawl.

"No, I'm the one who asks the questions around here! What I want to know is what's 'sup' with the device you just rode in here on?"

"Oh, this? My friend built it, a long time ago. Just got it up and running today" the skeleton said, in the same drawl.

"Your….friend?"

"Yeah. He…was, a real science genius where I come from."  
Mario took note of the stranger's unchanging tone of voice. The guy, whoever he was, was a pacifist.

"Pardon me for asking" ROB interrupted, "But did he also have something to do with the blaster on your arm?"

Mario's eyes snapped to the skeleton creature's hand immediately. He had a gun mounted to his arm, that almost looked like the blue-eyed face of some horrific creature.

"Yeah" the skeleton responded.

Silence hung in the air, before Mario cleared his throat, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

"My name's Sans. I come from a place called The Underground. I've been building this machine to get out of there."

"Is your realm in danger?"

Sans sighed, "Well, yes and no. The timeline resets every so often. I tried everything, even thought fighting the human might help when they went off, but that didn't even work. Thought it was best for everyone, and me, if I just bounced to the one place with a similar energy signature to my machine. You could say the day to day life was, driving me out of my skull"

Sans' gaze snapped from Mario to a far off gaze at something Mario couldn't see. Mario tried to follow his gaze, but for all he knew, Sans was just looking at the wall.

"So….um…" Mario was bewildered. He'd never met someone like Sans before, "The timeline in your world….resets-a, and you're aware of that?"

"Yes."

"Are you familiar with the Multiverse theory?"

"Dude, I read theoretical physics books for fun. Of course, I know about the Multiverse theory."

Mario once again cleared his throat, "My name's Mario. I lead a group called The Super Smash Brothers. Our public-a persona is that of a multi-dimensional fighting league. But privately we're something of a peacekeeping task force, only getting together when a multiverse level threat appears. The energy source that powers this land, similar to the one that powers your machine, is in the hands of an evil despot, who's amassing something of an army. We plan to conduct a tournament while waiting for dis-a despot to strike. We have a "gunner" role that's got an opening. Would you-a mind joining us?"

"We get to wait until something happens and I get slotted into a pre-assigned roll? Excellent, I'm in."

Sans extended his hand, Mario extended his

 **Pffffffft**

Sans giggled, "Ahhhh, whoopee cushion in the hand trick. Classic."

"Seven stars above" Mario muttered as he stared at his own hand in shock

Again, Sans chuckled, "You're just like my brother"

Suddenly, Sans eyes lit up, "So wait, all your tech still works despite the power source being who knows where?" he asked

"Yes. It's quite powerful."

"Rad. Something that powerful could make it so that my timeline doesn't get rewritten over and over."

"Perhaps. After our mission's over, our guy who's more experienced in this might be able to manipulate things."

"Good enough for me."

Mario nodded, "ROB, show Sans to one of the open rooms. It'll take us a couple of days to get everyone settled, so feel free to make yourself at home till then.

"Great." Sans said, "Hey, uh, do you have any ketchup? I'm really hungry."

"Yeah, ROB'll get you a bottle before bed" Mario explained as ROB lead Sans away.

 _A slacker scientist who plays pranks and drinks ketchup like juice. Man, how'd Hand deal with dis-a crap?_ thought Mario

Mario dialed a number key. After a few rings, the sleepy visage of Princess Peach appeared

"Is everything okay love?" she asked

"Yeah, there's a skeleton man here who rode in here on a similar device to our Core Machine. He's the newest Smasher, and he wants ketchup."

A pause then, "What?"

"Heck if I-a know."

"Honey, your brain sounds fried. Come up to bed."

Mario smiled. She was always looking out for him. Her penchant for knowing the mental limit of people she loved was impeccable

"I will babe. But do you want a juice or anything to take on your morning run with Wii Fit?"

"I'll get it myself. You might bring me up a bottle of ketchup by mistake."

Mario laughed, "You know, the way this-a night has gone, that's possible. I'll be up in a minute. Love you, babe."

"I love you too Mario," Peach said as she closed her commlink.


	12. Origins: Terry

Origins: Terry Bogard

 **Smash Conference Room: Afternoon**

Corrin walked down the ornate hallway to the conference room, Just to the left and down a hallway when standing in the main foyer, the dark-haired Hoshidan princess couldn't hide her confusion as she proceeded down it. Of all these mythic gods, heroes and all, she felt she'd earned the least. Sure, unifying the kingdoms of her birth and the kingdom she was adopted into was no easy task, but even those who'd done more understated feats, like the Ice Climbers, for example, did it with charisma and confidence. She, however, was a wallflower, constantly unsure of where she stood, where she belonged.

 _So why do they want me in on this conference?_

Corrin opened the door to the conference room. Her red eyes darted around the room in confusion. Sitting at the black, polished conference table was Mario at the head, Marth, Roy, Ryu, and the newcomer Ken all had seats around the table as well. Corrin sheepishly waved, which caught the attention of Mario.

"Ah! Corrin. Please take a seat somewhere, we need to talk about the next recruitment."

"Recruitment?" asked Corrin,

"I had similar questions" admitted Marth, "But Mario assures me that the answer will become clear in due time."

"And they will" Mario agreed as Corrin took her seat.

Mario reached into a file folder and slid a glossy photograph into the middle of the table. There was a beat of silence, which was broken by a brief, but loud chuckle from Ken. The man wore a red hat, had a red jacket on accompanied by a white t-shirt, flowing blond hair. His chiseled face featured a smile, his fist was pumped into the air.

"Oh, man! Terry! Haven't seen him in years!" Ken shouted excitedly

"An excellent choice Mario. Terry is as fine a friend and as skilled a fighter as you could have on your side," said Ryu as Mario nodded

"Pardon me Mario, but if he is more of Ken and Ryu's ilk, why are we involved?" Roy asked

A mischievous smile spread on Mario's mustached face, "Because you see, you three are just the trio we need-a. Terry is known for competing in a 3-on-3 fighting-a tournament called The King of Fighters. You three have been registered as a trio. You will travel to a place called Mexico in the year 1994 and fight Terry and his team. From how I understand, it's one on one fights elimination rules, last team standing wins"

"A-are you sure? Team elimination isn't something that's exactly common Smash fair." Corrin pointed out

"Look at it this-a-way, you guys will have primer for a new idea I have."

"Not to interrupt, but if Marth, Roy, and Corrin are the team, then where does that leave Ken and I?" Ryu asked

"You-a guys are the backup. This is in the year 1994, so Rugal is just becoming prominent especially in a-Mexico. It could go badly but nothing you all can't handle. The portals are up and ready, You all can go whenever you're ready."

"Wait, portals? As in multiple?"

"Yes. Ryu and Ken will enter a few minutes behind you all, as not to draw suspicion. Have fun!" Mario concluded with a wave, standing up and walking out of the conference room.

"Sweet!" Ken cheered, "It'll be nice to hang out for a bit before we go into action. Street Tacos are on me, Ryu!"

Ryu frowned as the two got up to leave, "Not enough protein, too much fat."

"Oh live a little Ryu!" bellowed Ken as they exited the conference room

Silence hung in the air as the Fire Emblemers had the conference room all to themselves, Marth cleared his throat, "So, if you two do not have any objections I'll be taking command in this operation"

Roy shrugged, "No problem with me, you're better at the tactical approach than I."

"I must agree with Roy" Corrin chimed in, "There's a reason why neither of us are called "The Hero King."

Roy chuckled, while a wry grin etched at Marth's face, "Hmph. I suppose so. Well, we know what to do, onward to the portal room"

 **Mexico City, 1994**

Like a flash, Marth, Roy, and Corrin appeared in the heart of Mexico City, right outside of the Pao Pao Café, the enormous club/restaurant/bar that was their assigned location. Even though the loudness of the city, they could hear contemporary jazz inside the establishment. Marth winced as the Smash technology each of the three had on them adjusted the language of their onlookers, finally triangulating into English.

"Mommy look! They look like the characters in an anime!" said one little boy in the crowd of gawkers

"Don't stare! You're blocking people trying to get in." hissed a middle-aged woman as a man elbowed past the little boy.

Corrin giggled nervously at the attention. Marth and Roy, however, pressed onward into Club Pao Pao with Corrin quickly following behind. As the entered the enormous club, they saw a sign that read **"King of Fighters 1994, Registration"**

Immediately, the man behind the dressed, a middle-aged Mexican man with his jet black hair tied back into a ponytail wearing an expensive-looking suit looked up from the paperwork he was writing to see them. He immediately came out from behind the table and eagerly shook Marth's hand.

"Hi, I'm Richard Meyer," said the man in a silky smooth voice, "Owner of Club Pao Pao and handling the qualifying rounds held here. I assume you're the fellas sent by that Mario fella?"

"Yes. Mario is, in fact, our boss" Marth said with a nod.

"Excellent! Please inform Mister Mario I'll be more than happy to bring Club Pao Pao to the Smash tournament if he so chooses."

"Smash Brothers is not only a gathering of the greatest fighters but also of the greatest cuisine. I'm sure Mario will be pleased to have you," said Roy

"And I'm pleased to hear it!" said Richard, "Now, I hope you don't mind going up against Mister Bogard's team first. Having a novelty act like you will get customers in the door like there's no tomorrow."

"Novelty act? How dare you!" shouted Roy, "We are royalties of our respective lands."

"Look, I'm sure you are" Richard growled dryly, "But you all have an interesting look and it's my job to get customers in the door. Now, what will be your team order?"

"Team order? Um…" Corrin spoke, but Marth interrupted

"I shall go first, then the redhead, Roy, and my female friend Corrin shall go last."

Corrin shot him a puzzled look. Marth briskly stepped over and whispered, "You can turn into a dragon. We need to see how these fellows react in otherworldly situations."

"Okay," Corrin whispered back.

"Great! So it's decided!" Richard said, stepping over to a mic, speaking into it, "Would Team Fatal Fury and Team Fire Emblem please report to the arena for the first qualifying match of the 1994 King of Fighters tournament!"

The crowd cheered. As the Fire Emblem trio walked forward, a crowd parted to reveal a simple square space etched by paint. Marth deduced that it was about half the size of the main platform of Battlefield. Nothing his team couldn't work on.

"Team Fatal Fury, what is your team order?" bellowed the microphone amplified voice of Richard.

From the opposite side of the arena, through another large crowd, an absurd looking man with a shock top hair-do and a Japanese flag bandana stepped forward. Marth noted the odd wrapping on his hands and feet. From behind him came a blond man dressed in a white gi, followed by the man of the hour, Terry Bogard.

"I, Joe Higashi, the fighting genius, will go first!" said the strange man as he pumped his fist in the air to the cheers of the nearby crowd

"Alright! Fighters get ready!" shouted Richard to almost deafening cheers

Corrin snapped her glance over to Marth, who was whispering something to Roy, likely a variation of what had been relayed to her. Roy's face clenched in understanding with a quick nod. Marth stepped into the arena, followed by Joe.

" **3, 2, 1. GO!"** bellowed Richard

Marth immediately ran to close the gap. Joe grinned and jumped into the air.

"TIGER KICK!" screamed Joe.

Marth struck his counter stance. He felt the impact of the fire-laced Tiger Kick blast through his body, and then settle in his own, allowing him to slash Joe with the same ferocity

Joe was sent hurdling backward but was graceful enough to land on his feet. His jaw was clenched, but his eyes betrayed complete and utter shock

"HURRICANE!" shouted Joe.

Again, another counter. This time, Marth only swung to release the energy.

`HOW!" Joe screamed.

Marth rushed him, hitting him with a blinding flurry of Dancing Blade strikes. Joe staggered backward. Marth pulled his sword-wielding arm back in order to charge the Shield Breaker, but Joe fired back with a mighty ax kick to the side of Marth's head, and another, followed by a flurry of punches to the body. Joe twisted his arm and brought it back.

"HURRIC-"

As soon as the aerokinetic air generated, Marth knew what to do.

"COUNTER!" he shouted.

Again, he felt the energy wave funnel through his body, to be released on the next sword swing. With a futile scream, Joe was flung through the air, this time, hitting the ground.

"MARTH WINS!" Richard bellowed through the mic, "Would the next member of Team Fatal Fury please step forward?".

The blond in the white gi stepped forward without a word, as a smirking Terry assisted a limping Joe off of the arena.

"Fighters ready? **3,2,1, GO!** "

Joe immediately fired a ball of energy. Marth had familiarity with something almost exactly like it, having seen Ryu fight. Marth countered it. But, just as he completed his sword swing, he felt himself get slapped upside the jaw, hard, and flung into the air, as more palm strikes windmilled into his jaw. Without thinking, Marth allowed his sword, the Falchion, to propel him further into the air. The white gi wearing man launched a kick, knocking Marth out of the air. His opponent loomed over him as he struggled to his feet. The man lashed out with a kick, just as Marth swung in a mighty overhead sword arc…  
Both connected

As the sword connected with the Team Fatal Fury member's jaw, his kick also connected with Marth's hand. As the blond slumped down to the ground, knocked out cold, Marth cried out in pain, clutching his hand.

A mysterious man in a King of Fighters emblazoned jacket and hat ran over to him, "Can you continue sir?" he asked Marth

"I think my hand is broken, but…"

"No, if you've got a broken hand we can't have you fightin'. WE'VE GOT A DOUBLE KO HERE!" screamed the man, holding his arms out in a 'T' shape

"Okay" confirmed Richard over the mic, "Round 2 is a Double KO. Terry and Roy, please get ready. If Terry loses this round, Team Fire Emblem advances"

Roy stepped forward, stepping into his classic stance, extending his hand, and letting out a mighty "EEYAH!" as Terry lazily slumped into the fighting space

"You. You have control of fire don'tcha? " Terry asked

Roy blinked, "How do you know?"

"Such is being in tune with that of Mother Earth dude!"

Roy blinked. This time, words failed him.

"HEY! C'MON! Wipe that dumb look off your mug fire boy!" chided Terry

Roy briefly felt a hot wash of embarrassment, but quickly softened. Terry was simply trying to keep him in the game. Roy nodded.

"Fighters ready? **3, 2, 1, GO!**

Immediately, Terry and Roy charged one another to close the distance between them. Terry swept a kick at Roy's leg, the impact of which sent Roy staggering backward.

"BURNING KNUCKLE!" screamed Terry

Energy emblazoned in his hand Terry lurched forward, fist outstretched. Cracking Roy across the jaw, the punch connected with a mighty "THWACK!"

Roy immediately shook himself back into consciousness, connecting with a few Dancing Blade strikes of his own. Roy jumped into the air as Terry stumbled backward from the flurry of strikes. Terry immediately leaped into the air.

"POWAH DUNK!" Terry shouted

Bringing a fist onto Roy's head in midair the two fell towards the ground, Terry landing safely on his knees, while Roy's head slammed into the linoleum floor of the restaurant.

"KO!" screamed Richard, as he shot a quick look to the official, who was holding up the 'x'

Corrin stepped forward, helping Roy to the sidelines.

"The next fighter is Corrin. Whoever wins this fight will advance their team into the next round of the tournament. Fighters ready?"

Both nodded.

" **3, 2, 1, GO!"** screamed Richard over the PA system

"POWAH WAVE!" said Terry,

He cupped his hand, sending a ball of energy skittering across the arena floor.

Corrin meekly looked to Marth, who mouthed, "Do it."

Corrin braced herself. An otherworldly helmet graced her head as she braced. Then, the Power Wave hit her. A piddly amount of energy, but enough to spark her transformation.

Corrin felt her body transform. The world shifted around her as her body became that of a stout, mighty dragon! Reflexively roaring a water pillar sprung up around her as she released the countered energy. The crowd immediately went silent.

As the world shifted back to her usual human point of view, she got a look at her opponents. Joe's jaw was hung open, the gi wearing man who hadn't announced himself sat crosslegged on the floor, his hands upon his head, eyes wide from shock. Terry meanwhile, was smiling from year to ear.

"Wubba wubba! What was that?!"

Corrin felt herself blushing, "O-oh. That's my dragon form. I can transform to counter"

"Can you fight like that?"

"Y-yes but I prefer not to."

"Let's do it that way!"

"Terry you idiot, she's probably much more powerful that way," said the gi wearing man.

"Aw shaddap, Andy! How often do you get to fight a dragon?"

"Are you sure?" Corrin asked

"Hell yeah! DRAGON!" screamed a random man from the crowd

And with that, a chant rang out from the now cheering crowd.

"DRA-GON, DRA-GON, DRA-GON!"

"Fine" Corrin growled, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

With a watery pillar, she transformed into her dragon form, a black-winged reptile with gold trim.

With a roar, Corrin lunged forward.

"POWAH GEYSAR" bellowed Terry

An explosion of fire enveloped the ground between Terry and Corrin, and then eventually Corrin herself. Reflexively, she shot out a blast of water to counter the fire, which caused the immediate area to be covered in steam. Blinded, Terry fired off with a serious of punches, Corrin nipped at the hand after the fourth, immediately shattering it.

"YEE-OW" shrieked Terry.

Then, Corrin felt another punch hit her dead center on the forehead. In her dragon form, she'd been attacked by steel melee weapons, catapults, and just about everything the Smashers had cooked up, and that was the single hardest she'd ever been hit, by a fist

"ARE YOU OKAY? BUSTA WOLF!"

Fire surged through Terry's arm like a cannon, releasing onto Corrin's forehead. With a pained howl, her body lumbered backward. Wordlessly, Terry punched the ground with his broken hand. One after another, blasts of fire erupted from the earth, each staggering Corrin, the last firing Corrin up into the air. Terry leaped into the air, hitting the Power Dunk move he had earlier, sending her colliding with the ground. As she wobbled up to her feet, Terry hit two punches, a right and a left, before drawing back.

"Here is the big one" announced Terry as his fist glowed hot with fire, "BUSTA WOLF!" he screamed

This time, Corrin was sent flying backward, slamming into the floor, and skipping a few times before she was nearly at the feet of the crowd. With no more energy left to give, Corrin transformed back into her human form

"THE WINNER IS TEAM FATAL FURY! THEY WILL ADVANCE TO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 1994!" screamed Richard, so loud it made the sound system squeal in strain, "LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM FIRE EMBLEM!"

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Yeah man, you guys did great," remarked Terry, "Drinks on me? I reckon we have a lot to talk about."

 **An hour later**

Corrin awoke sat in a booth, with some sort of canned beverage next to her. Marth was next to her, with Roy and Terry on the opposite end. Terry's hand was wrapped in gauze, a few bottled alcoholic beverages deep it appeared.

"I'm not quite getting it. Multi-dimensional you said?"

"Yes," Marth said, "Again, we apologize for testing you in the manner that we did, but we had to see how you reacted to something similar you'd be facing in our tournament."

"Hey, if all of you fight like the lady there, count me the hell in. I just can't imagine why out of all the dimensions you'd pick me."

"Believe it or not Mister Bogard your tales of heroism are quite legendary. If they were not, you wouldn't be being selected. You proved to us today that you can handle what is to come."

"Yeah." Corrin slurred weakly, causing every head at the booth to turn, "You hit hard."

Terry smiled warmly, "As do you, ma'am. Sorry for going so hard. Hey, I'll make it up to you. If your realm has cheeseburgers, I'll treat you to one."

"I'm familiar with cheeseburgers, and I certainly wouldn't mind being treated," Corrin said with a sheepish grin

Suddenly, a ruckus was heard from the bar area across the restaurant, "EY! SOCKS TO RUGAL YOU SON OF A…"

Each head in at the table turned to look at the source of the noise. A man in a suit had slapped an old man out of his chair, "Well if you weren't late on your payments maybe we'd let your daughter go, stupid old man" hissed the man in the suit

"Yeah!" said the smallest of the 10 or so men in identical suits, "Don't blame Boss Rugal, blame yourself"

Without a word, Terry stood up, the rest followed, walking towards the source of the noise.

"Hey, stop harassin' the old-timer dude. You think you're all big because you're a member of that idiot Rugal's gang, but you're not all that." Terry said

All ten heads shot up, each standing from their seats at the bar to surround Terry and company.

"We're not all that, but at least we don't have three idiots from the renaissance fair as a backup," said the lead man

"Maybe sending the boys back to the hotel so we could talk wasn't the best idea," Terry said sheepishly as a man pulled out a knife.  
"HADOUKEN!" came a voice from across the restaurant

A blue fireball came out of nowhere, striking the lead man, knocking him unconscious.

The foursome looked to the entrance of the restaurant, and there stood Ken and Ryu!

"Hm. Talk is cheap" Ryu growled dismissively.

"You always say that! You need to work on your hero lines!" whined Ken to an eye-roll from Ryu.

The small bigmouth ran towards the duo. This time, Ken stepped forward, flicking the man once he came into striking range. A flourish of kicks sent him into the air, the last sending him back-first onto the bar. One of the other men went to make a move, but a sudden blow to the head from a tequila bottle from the old man from earlier dropped him. In a flash, several bar patrons jumped the remaining men, cheering and hooting as they curb stomped the Rugal henchmen.

"On that note, I think a tactical retreat is wise" Marth hurriedly said

The six ran out of the bar, Ken fiddling with his Smash gear as he went.

"Ah-ha! Got it!" shouted Ken as a blue beam shot out from his wrist, making a portal directly into the Smashverse. All six dove through it as the portal closed behind them. They were in the garden just outside the Smash Mansion.

Corrin looked up to see Mario standing over them, a grin on his mustachioed face.

"Well done _famiglia_. Especially you Corrin. That was a big test, but you faced it with bravery. And Terry, let's get you to the medical bay for that-a hand" said Mario

"Wait…" Terry said, awe on his voice, "You two. I know you. Ryu and Ken!"

"Ey! It's about time I got a greeting ya big dummy" shouted Ken with a grin

"It's great to see you guys!" said Terry, as he gave Ken a bro hug off of a handshake, "But…how do I know you if we fought in the new millennium, seven years from now?"

"Erm…" Mario interjected, "Smash kind of exists outside the time stream, so if people come here from the past, they remember the future."

"Yeah, time's some crazy stuff isn't it?" came an unexpected drawl

Each head snapped up, behind the Smashers stood Sans. But, he hadn't been here before…

"Sans? How long have you been standing here?"

Sans shrugged, "Not long. I know shortcuts from most places though."

Mario grimaced, As laid back as Sans seemed to be, he had an unnerving, unpredictable presence

"I assume you want to talk to me about something?" asked Mario

"Yeah. I wanted to show you something I found, in the Core Machine Room" Sans drawled

Mario grimaced even deeper.

'Fine. Let's go."

(AN: For future author's notes, please refer to my profile, I've turned it into a something of a blog with updates and et cetera)


	13. Interlude 1: It's Raining Somewhere Else

Interlude 1: It's raining somewhere else

"What am I even…looking at?" Mario asked

He and Sans had walked to the Core Machine Room. When they had arrived, ROB was there, and it had been clear that Sans had been using it for quite some time. A ketchup bottle and a relish bottle were about half consumed at the computer desk. Mario would have to remind Sans about the "No food or drink at the Core Machine" rule. But that wasn't what was perplexing him. On the screen itself were blue light blue lines with the consistency of a stream more than Mario could count, all protruding from an equally blue orb. One of the lines was highlighted yellow.

"Timelines. Specifically, all the potential timelines of my world."

"Okay. ROB, give me a rounded number to the nearest zero."

ROB sat silent for a few seconds, his eyes flashing green as he calculated. Suddenly, his eyes stopped flashing, and the old robot whirred to look at Mario

"21 million" droned ROB

"And these are all potential futures?" Mario asked, looking at Sans

The short skeleton chuckled, "No. You're not thinking abstractly enough. These not only represent futures but pasts and presents as well."

Mario nodded.

 _I suppose the Smash Universe does exist outside of time._

"I suppose you're going to ask why the one was highlighted yellow."

"Yes, I was-a curious about that"

"Well, first of all, because it looks like pee, which I thought was funny. Secondly, because it looks like lemonade and I'm craving a glass. Thirdly, because that's _my_ timeline."

"Because it looked like pee?"

"Bodily function humor is a widely accepted form of humor, Mister Mario." ROB chimed in

"I know that ROB," groaned Mario

Sans chuckled again, "See? This guy gets it."

Mario rubbed his temples, "Okay so, moving past the pee jokes, your timeline? The one you left?"

"Yeah."

Sans pressed a few buttons at the console. The screen zoomed in on the yellow stream, which zoomed in further on a planet within it. Zooming in on the planet led to a park, where it appeared a dog in knight's armor was throwing a human child up into the air, which the human child appeared to be enjoying, as it was whooping and hollering

"See, I'm what the people of that planet call a monster," Sans said, "About a decade ago a war broke out because the prince of monsters was unjustly killed after it brought a human back to its village. We lost that war and as a result, got banished underneath a mountain. Recently a human fell down to our world and helped us break the magic barrier without killing anyone. We all live in harmony now."

"Well that's good." said Mario, frowning, "But I guess other timelines didn't go in such a merry direction"

"Heh, you're smarter than I thought mustache. Look."

More buttons being pressed on the console, the screen flipped to what seemed like a normal, albeit dark, town.

"There are somewhere the human got out, leaving the underground in varying states of disarray. And then…."

The screen flipped to a royal looking hall. Sans was there, a bloody, deep gash down his torso, with a child standing over him wielding a bloody knife. The child had a blank expression on his face

"Papyrus" the Sans on screen wheezed, "I'm going to Grillby's. Do you….want anything?" limping a few steps, and then collapsing, transforming into dust, which quickly blew away in a light breeze.

"Seven Stars above" gasped a horrified Mario, "What causes such deviations in the timeline?"

Sans shrugged, "Dunno. I've driven myself batty trying to figure it out. The only explanation I can think of goes into those scientific studies that we can't identify problems in until it's too late. You know, psychology stuff. Beyond that, it's literally down to what the human feels like doing when they get down the mountain."

Mario nodded, "I understand the frustration, being faced with an issue you can't control."

"Yeah, especially when I'm the Sans that comes from the perfect timeline."

Mario raised an eyebrow, "The perfect timeline? How do you know this is your perfect timeline?"

"Because of my friend's machine" Sans muttered, "I figured it out. If we, that is, all of the Sans' that exist across time, all individually figured out the machine, I imagine your technology would be going nutso having marked all of us."

"And I'm assuming that way you came here, to begin with, to see if someone with a machine like your friend's could help."

For the briefest of moments, Mario thought he saw Sans' eye flash with a blue flame, but before he could register it, it was gone.

"Right again Mister Mustache. If we were on Mettaton's game show, you'd be at, what, the 200 dollar question? Even so, if you cashed out then that'd be like, a few days of hamburgers. You'd be set."

"In addition to the harrows of your timeline, your currency also appears to be terribly inflated" ROB droned

Sans laughed, but not like the chuckles that seemed to come as natural at breathing for the skeleton. This was an explosion of laughter. ROB had caught Sans off guard

"Nah man I just eat a lot," Sans said in response

 _Puns and deadpan, that's how we keep you happy huh,_ Mario thought to himself

Mario nodded, "I believe I understand now. You could say I needed time to adjust" Mario paused, allowing Sans to chuckle once again, " I think you can be a great help to us outside of-a fighting. You seem to know a lot more about this than anyone I know."

Sans chuckled, "Thanks man, I wish I didn't" he snapped

The quick burst of anger that Sans had just let out filled Mario with a deep coldness. Knowledge that there are places in a universe much like your own where your friends had died, and chaos reigned supreme, and knowledge that you tried and failed. That filled Mario with a deep sense of dread.

"And if anything….that's what this war is gonna be if and-a when it happens. Warriors from bad timelines coming to rule the entire multi-verse, " Mario pondered

Sans shrugged, "Yeah. And I really hope at the end of it we can right those darker timelines."

"If that's what brings peace to the multi-verse, that's what we'll-a do Sans," said the mustachioed plumber

"Affirmative" agreed ROB

There was a moment's pause, and then Mario spoke, "Sans, in addition to myself and ROB, there are a few other…um…administrators. I don't-a know if Shulk has introduced himself, or the Duck Hunt Duo, but we do a lot of the behind the scenes operation, and with your knowledge of timelines and these machines, we'd like to invite you to be a part of that team. You'll be doing that-a part-time, filling in for Shulk and ROB while they're competing, and they'll-a be doing the same for you. How does that sound?"

Sans dismissively waved his hand, "I held like, three jobs back home. Would be nice to finally have one that's not customer-facing for once. Yeah, I'm in."

Mario quizzically raised an eyebrow, " Wait, you held three jobs. No disrespect to you, but you don't seem like the kind of guy to…"

"Dude, if I had a nickel every time somebody said that I'd have enough to buy a dope sports car"

Mario grinned, "Fair enough. Welcome to the team Sans. I'm thinkin' of-a wrapping this meeting up. You got any questions?"

"I do actually. You said this was gonna be a tournament right? With a live attendance?" Sans asked

"Yeah! You can invite whoever you want to watch you fight. That's a source of great appeal for most people who come to fight here."

"Great. My friends are cool people, and I think you'll like them too."

Mario nodded, "I'm especially looking forward to meeting this Mettaton character. You said he had a game show? We're always looking for entertainment outside the realm of the tournaments for pre and post-show, I'd like to give this guy a shot-a."

"Oh, you're not ready for Mettaton. But then again, are any of us truly ready for Mettaton?" Sans mused

Mario laughed, "I like that, it only intrigues me more."

Sans matched Mario's laughter, and the two shared a few seconds of laughter together. When the laughter subsided, Sans spoke up

"Nah. I'm gonna grab that glass of lemonade if you don't mind."

"No problem at all. This meeting is dismissed"

Sans did an overdramatic bow as he left the Core Machine room, walking down the long hallway to the cafeteria. He found himself lost in thought about how fun it would be to be able to show Alphys this fantastic world, or how cool it would be to see Papyrus and Undyne interact with heroes of their own ilk, or….

 _Jokes from around the universe with Toriel_

Sans sighed happily at the prospect, when suddenly

 _WHAM!_

He bumped shoulders with someone as he walked to the entrance of the cafeteria. Looking up from his daydreaming state, he locked eyes with a young man in a striped shirt, adorned with a baseball cap.

"Uh…do I know you from somewhere?"

"Um, no?" Ness said

"Oh, okay then. I just got in the other night. My name's Sans, I'm taking the Mii Gunner position."

Ness smiled broadly, "Well, my name's Ness! I've been here since the first tournament."

"Wow, so much battle experience for a young kid. Do you mind showing me the ropes of the fighting arena?"

Ness 'hummed' in a quizzical manner, "I don't think any of the training rooms are open yet. We usually have a week for that once everyone's settled in, and judging by how things have been going so far, that might be a while. But yeah! Once things open up for that, I'll totally be your training buddy!"

Sans chuckled, "Thanks for being a pal kid. See ya around!"

Ness nodded as Sans entered the cafeteria, shuffling up to the counter, to which a purple Wire Frame man sat attentively

"Good afternoon Mister Sans. What would you like?"

"Two helping of burg."

"Two hamburgers coming right up"

Sans happily leaned against the counter, checking his Smash Tech watch. The time read 3 PM. Between the nap, he'd taken earlier, and the hour or so of work he'd done at the Core Machine he'd missed the lunch rush. He'd also somehow managed to avoid the hustle and bustle of the Smash Mansion overall

 _Good, that means nobody'll judge me for burgers in bed and another nap_ Sans thought as he wordlessly took his tray of burgers and shuffled off to his room.


	14. Interlude 2: Running into Old Friends

Interlude 2: Running into Old Friends

Dinner in the cafeteria was the most raucous it had been since the doors opened to The Smash Mansion for the tournament. As no one was technically ever required to eat in the cafeteria, for the exception of the opening night, the hustle ebbed and flowed with complete irregularity. As the cafeteria was 24/7 self-serve, it wasn't uncommon to see the cafeteria barren except for a few people. But, talk of the fifth newcomer had given way to excited chitter-chatter about sorts of topics.

Zooming through the chaos, chili-dog in hand was Sonic the Hedgehog. One of the things that made navigating a crowded room interesting with his powerset was that Sonic could stop, absorb conversation, and leave, sometimes all before the speakers had noticed he was even there. He stopped at a table occupied by Ken, Ryu, Terry, Little Mac, Doc Lewis, and Incineroar, as Ken was animatedly telling a story.

"And so I flicked Mac on the chin and said 'Ey! C'mon c'mon!'"

Terry smirked as the table erupted into laughter, "You jerk, that's copyrighted gold," he chided playfully

"You call it plagiarism, I call it researching a great," Ken chided back, flashing a pearly white smile

Incineroar uproariously laughed, "Course, martial arts and wrestling are always gonna make boxers look like jabronis, every time, so really don't matter who's stealing what gimmick brother. "

Mac raised an eyebrow, " Come again?" he asked, as he shot a now aggravated looking Doc a stern look

"Oh c'mon! The footage is on the Pokemon League network on Pokegear! You ain't ever seen Chuck vs Bruno when Chuck was in his prime? Chuck's Hitmonlee took down Bruno's Hitmonchan, but Bruno's Machoke took down Chuck's Hitmonlee. It's basically Rock Type, Paper, Scissors"

"Ey man, you ever take down Donkey Kong?" muttered Doc, "Because Mac did."

"That monkey with the tie? He's a big guy, but I probably could. Alolan Strong Style goes harder brother!"

"I don't know what Alolan Strong Style is. All I know, pal, is that you waited to make your big entrance until I was already embedded in the big screen." Mac chided

"Don't work yourself into a shoot brother, big entrances sell merch. 'Sides, Ken and I were the attraction, two foreign fighters to your territory. I wouldn't mind sparring with you in the training room when they open up"

Mac smirked, "Bring it. I've fought far weirder than you"

Suddenly, something clicked in Sonic's head

 _Donkey Kong. I wonder if…_ he thought, jetting off

Sure enough, further down the length of the cafeteria, The Kongs, King K. Rool, Banjo, Kazooie, all three Links, and Zelda were sat at one of the long dining room tables As with the other table, Kazooie was in the thick of an animated discussion.

"So what you're saying is, you hit the chicken, and you got jumped by his friends?" Kazooie asked, holding in her laughter.

Link hung his head, which caused Zelda to giggle, "Look, I was in a fight with a Moblin and this chicken wouldn't move out of the way, so I accidentally hit it a couple of times. I take the Moblin out and next thing I know the sun is blotted out with chickens"

Young Link snorted with laughter, "The Goddess sent chickens!"

"Hey, at least the chickens don't drop coconuts. This guy's henchmen" Diddy interjected, pointing at King K. Rool, "Did a lot of that."

"I'll have you know they are fine troupes, and the aerial advantage is of the utmost importance," growled the Kremling King.

Donkey Kong shrugged, "The many bumps on my noggin say he's right"

"Still though" Kazooie interrupted, "I can't stop thinking about the sun being blotted out by chickens. Power to the fowls!" Kazooie said with a squawking laugh,

"Still as ridiculous as ever eh Kazooie?" Sonic quipped

Every head at the table turned to look up towards Sonic, Banjo broke out into a huge grin, as did Kazooie

"Sonic!" They both cried

"Good to see ya both. I was wondering when I'd eventually see you guys.' Sonic explained

"Little bit difficult to find anyone person in this place isn't it?" Banjo mused

"Enough of the pleasantries" blurted The Kremling King, "I demand to know how you two know this, erm, blue rat."

Sonic rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "Well…um…back in the day I kind of…I kind of wiped an entire island from the timeline" he said.

Zelda, who was mid-bite of a salad, nearly choked, "S-sonic? How? Why?"

Sonic frowned, "The princess of the island demanded I do it. It was the only way we could stop the monster that was plaguing her world and bringing on an apocalyptic future."

"And somehow" Diddy Kong interjected, "It brought the Isle o' Hags into another dimension"

Kazooie held up two talons mid-sip of ginger beer, "Two dimensions"

"Two?" asked Toon Link

"Yeah! When we did the um….car thing. The Isle o' Hags was technically in its own dimension, then it shifted again to Sonic's, which is how we met each other, during an interdimensional racing tournament. " explained Banjo.

"And," Sonic interrupted, "That brought our dimension in line with Mario's. So basically we all share a dimension now"

"Urgh, this makes my head hurt" Donkey admitted, pushing away a large banana plate, which Diddy gleefully began to munch on.

"You can ask Cranky about it when we get phone time tonight. He can explain it," said Diddy, his voice muffled from a mouthful of bananas

"Or Mewtwo," said Zelda, "I would love to see the equation that explains these dimensional shenanigans"

Young Link and Link groaned simultaneously.

"Ugh, Zelda and her math" groaned Young Link, while Link nodded in agreement, "Hey Toon, is your Zelda a big nerd too?" chided the young warrior

"Hey!" Zelda whined playfully, "I resent that!"

"I mean, she's good at reading star maps because she's a pirate."

Both of the other Links nodded as Banjo gasped excitedly, "Wait a Jiggy flippin' minute. Your girlfriend's a pirate?"

"I mean, she's not my girlfriend. But yeah, my…Zelda is a pirate."

Banjo smiled, "That's awesome. Part of me always wanted to be a pirate."

"Yeah," Kazooie agreed, rolling her eyes, "He talks about it all the time"

"Hey, don't start this again. I've told you a million times. We shoulda bought that ship from Blubber, sailed to Jolly Roger Lagoon, opened a restaurant…"

"Yeah like your lazy fuzzy butt would run a restaurant."

"That's what middle managers are for Kazooie!"

Sonic mockingly saluted the rest of the table as the bear and bird bickered, zooming away

"Heh, those two arguing like a couple, I missed it," Sonic thought aloud, "But I do owe that crocodile a punch in his big fat gut once training rooms open up for that blue rat comment," he decided as he rounded the corner to the hallway containing the bedrooms

However, in his speed, Sonic didn't notice that he had nearly collided with Isabelle, who was walking with her roommate Snake. The wind tussled at the clothes she was wearing as he blew past.

"YEEOW!" Isabelle yelped in fright, "What was that Snake?"

Snake eyes narrowed, "You mean 'who?' That was Sonic the Hedgehog. World's fastest obnoxious asshole."

Isabelle growled, which briefly stunned Snake, "That's not very polite to say about someone Snake."

"B-but I roomed with him two tournaments ago. He listens to punk rock loudly at all hours!" protested an unusually stammered Snake

"Still! That's no excuse to use such language! You and I are going to bake cookies for the new fighter and Sonic, and you are gonna like it!" squeaked Isabelle.

"Cookies? What kind of guy do you think I am?"

Isabelle giggled, "Nothing too complicated. We'll do a simple chocolate chip recipe. Even Roy couldn't mess that up!"

The two friends chuckled as they rounded the corner out of the bedroom hall.


	15. Villains: Conker

**Villains: Conker**

 **Conker's castle, main bedroom, night**

Conker tossed and turned in his sleep. This wasn't uncommon since he came to have the Smash Core. Even though he was restless, his mind was in a now-familiar state, in the midst of a lucid dream, in the center of a pitch-dark room, with a voice whispering out. His advisors all had wondered if this was the voice of the Smash Core itself, speaking out to him

"If you are lucid, not aligning with the Smash Core would be stupid" Gruntilda had told him one day over a strategy session.

Beyond this, it was starting to worry Berri. Something about the Smash Core, she had theorized, was altering his mood. He had felt it in the meeting with King K Rool. He had gone from white-hot anger, back to feeling as if he was almost high on some depressant, back to normal. Conker had avoided the voices in the dreams for months, afraid to go too deep. But, if it meant making Berri happy, and doing what was needed to achieve his plan, he'd do anything,

And so, there he was again. Whispered voices in a pitch-dark room. Conker cleared his throat,

"Okay ghost, let's make a deal."

"I am no ghost," said a static-filled, wispy voice

And then, the corporeal form took shape. A green silhouette of a man, its legs crossed in an almost mangled way, and cold, dead voids of nothingness for eyes and mouth  
Conker could feel every ounce of warmth leave his body

"Tabuu" whispered Conker

Evil, callous laughter filled the air, "Yes. Long have I been thought dead. But, long have I watched. Long have I watched my sons try to control the core of the universe, a power meant for literally only me. Long have I watched you, King Red Squirrel, abuse my power. Bring back dead generals and your lover. Pathetic wants reserved for weak flesh creatures."

Conker gulped, causing the creature to laugh again

"And yet, the Smashers, those flesh beings I had my sons gather, continue to live. This despite enacting my ultimate plans nearly a decade ago. My strategy of using the very aura of the universe to sustain my existence, And yet, now I realize my error. I am all, I am everything"

From the darkness appeared seemingly infinite hands. Wherever Conker and Tabuu were, they were very clearly outside, as white-gloved hands appeared as far as Conker could see, up and out in every direction.

"These are the Hands, my sons, of every conceivable reality. I will use them to siphon the power I need to eliminate this Smash Brotherhood. And then I shall…"

"Not to interrupt" interrupted Conker, "But weren't ya in some Subspace gunk last time you did this?"

"Yes. My errors were twofold. My own pocket dimension, Subspace was a place I could hold my form together, but it was in anti-matter. Matter, the kind your world is made of, is what I need to sustain myself. And, when I went out into the corporeal world, I had a form that was ill-suited to use it for long periods of time. That's why I need you. I need to siphon Hands so I can come out to your world with enough power to take out the Smashers. This will take the length of the Smasher's tournament to accomplish. When the time comes I need you, King Red Squirrel, to serve as my corporeal form so I can strike the ultimate blow." Tabuu bookending his rant with a primal snarl

"Uh, what do we get outta this? Ya know, me and Berri…"

"You, your friends, and the allies you accrue to serve at my side will have a pocket universe in mine, free to live with all you can want, with nothing to harm you.

"If it makes Berri happy, deal!"

"Good Red Squirrel. Tell no one."

Back in the real world, Conker shot up, his fur matted with rapidly-accumulating cold sweat

"What's wrong babe?" asked Berri, also shooting up at Conker's outburst.

"Nothin, in fact, nothing will be wrong ever again. I made an arrangement, and everything gets movin at the end of the Smash tournament."

"Okay Conker. I trust you. I love you" Berri cooed, snuggling deep into his chest.

 _If this is the reception I get, I TOTALLY made the right decision_ Conker thought with glee as he ran his claws gently through Berri's hair.


	16. Origins: Edelgard

**Askr: Months ago**

Marth rounded the corner to the main assembly hall of the Askr Castle. Seated around the table were three people. On one side was the mysterious Summoner, the one who had united them all in protecting the country of Askr by bringing them together. He was presumably from a futuristic world, one not unlike Cloud Strife's. On the other was the white-haired young woman Edelgard, her trusty ax laid out on the table in front of her. Eerily standing behind her was the Edelgard's brooding, scowling, yet always faithful servant Hubert. Dimitri, Claude, and Loki had come in saying the Edelgard had reached "Level 40" during a training excursion. Marth was unclear about what "levels" meant. What he did know, however, was that Level 40 was the maximum level of potential a warrior could reach, as was one of the first of the summoner's warriors to reach it. Customarily, one was to meet with the Summoner on one when they reached the level, usually to air whatever grievances or feelings they had as a sign of full devotion to the cause. Edelgard softly cleared her throat.

"You tend to look at me as though you expect me to leave at any moment. I suppose it can't be helped. You need not worry, however. Even if I did not care about this country and its people... For the sake of my ambitions, I would still be sure to see this effort to its end. I promise you that. Remember who I am. I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, and I am sworn to help you vanquish your enemies. With my allegiance to your cause, victory is a foregone conclusion."

The Summoner silently nodded, "Thank you, Your Highness. You and Hubert are dismissed."

Edelgard nodded her thanks, motioning for Hubert to follow as she grabbed her weapon. They strode through the grand set of double doors leading out of the room. The Summoner meanwhile spread his book on the table, thumbing through the ancient tome while humming a merry tune.

Marth frowned. He had no hard evidence, but something was conniving behind Edelgard's, but especially Hubert's, eyes. A lust to be the best, that could expand across her globe, maybe the multiverse if she had a powerful backer.

Marth slunk back into the room he had previously been in, activating his wrist communicator

"How can I be of assistance Master Marth? A new tournament has not yet begun."

"I know that ROB!" hissed Marth, "But I'd like to update the database."

"New database entry created, please state the name of potential Smasher."

"Edelgard von Hresvelg."

 **Smash Mansion: Now**

It was a sunny spring day at the Smash Mansion, as the Mansion's weather protocols had dictated after several days of rain. Mario sat on the top of the steps of the enormous mansion, a plate on his lap with a single slice of pepperoni pizza on it. Mario brought the slice of pizza up to his mouth, taking a bite. Recruitment had taken up most of his time, with Terry and Sans having joined the fold relatively recently. However, a thought was always nagging at the back of his mind. The fact that Conker and his cabal hadn't made any visible moves. That was the keyword to Mario and his advisors, "visible". Mario had no doubt Conker was recruiting villains at a rate that matched, or even exceeded their recruitment efforts, in universes that they didn't know the location of. This had, of course, greatly frustrated the administrative team, but none more than Mario. He had been incredibly distant to Peach since after his discussion with Sans. Mario briefly considered what kind of date he could take Peach on to rectify the situation when he felt a cold burst of wind behind him.

"Something troubles you." rang a deep voice in his mind

"Oh, hello Mewtwo" greeted Mario, not even turning to look at the 150th Pokemon, "Yes, quite a bit is troubling me …but I suppose you know that already"

"I do not mean to pry, but I hear thoughts the way we hear idle chatter when people speak, and quite loudly too. That aside, your thoughts weren't the reason why I came looking for you. ROB sent me to find you, as your wrist communicator is turned off. We have a hit."

"Yeah, sorry. I just needed a little bit of a peace and a-quiet, I-"

Then, suddenly a realization dawned on Mario,

"A hit? What do you mean?" asked the red garbed plumber

"Conker and his associates are meeting with someone from our database. We have a lock on their position if you want to join. It was decided that you and Marth would be best at representing our cause in this scenario, as this person was put in the database per his request."

"Edelgard correct?"

"Yes"

"Alright, I'm heading out. Watch my pizza for me will you Mewtwo?" Mario asked as he bolted into the mansion.

Mewtwo telepathically picked up the pizza, sniffing it. With a grunt, he flung the pizza slice deep into the forest that surrounded the mansion

"Human food, disgusting" grumbled Mewtwo as he lazily floated back into the mansion

It didn't take long for Mario to meet up with Marth who was running to the portal room

"Goddess, I hope we're not too late." huffed the blue-haired prince

"Agreed. A potential ally turned to the other side isn't what we need right now."

"If anyone can convince her though, it's you and I Master Mario."

"Well, I'm relieved to hear you say that."

Marth quizzically raised an eyebrow, "If something's the matter, you need to stow it. We need to be on our game here. This could be a full-on skirmish we're walking into"

"I know, you're right, sorry. I assume you gave ROB the standby order, to wait for our signal if we need backup?"

"I am all too familiar with the procedures of recruitment Master Mario."

Mario smiled, "Good. We're coming up on the portal room now!"

 **Garreg Mach Monastery**

Fall was just giving way to winter on the continent of Fódlan, and in the cold stood a terrified young woman, Edelgard von Hresvelg. She and Hubert had been walking through a seldom-used path to get to her next class, for which she had overslept and thus was running late, when a humanoid squirrel had stepped out of a portal, accompanied by a black-robed, silver-haired man with a ridiculously long sword,

"Hey, how's it going Flame Emperor?" said the squirrel

"I do not know who you are," growled Hubert, "But you need mind how you speak to Lady Edelgard."

"Name's Conker the Squirrel, and….hmph _lady_ " scoffed Conker, "Some lady you are, sneakin' around on all yer friends, being a villain and all. But I like yer style, and I wanna give you somethin' to join our cause."

" Your…cause?" asked Edelgard

"World domination" growled the man with the sword, "Shaping the world how we wish it. Is that not what you plan to do, Flame Emperor?"

"Yeah! We know these church bozos have messed with you and your family, and you wanna screw 'em back, "Conker explained pausing to hiccup, "And I have just the things"

Conker snapped his claws, and in a flash of light, four weapons appeared floating through the air. Edelgard gasped, "The Hero's Relics! And the Sword of the Creator!"

Hubert grimaced, "How did you get these weapons, you creature? These weapons are wholly unique artifacts."

Conker shrugged nonchalantly, "Eh. Weapon collection's easy when you go to a timeline when yer little war wipes out everyone. Then again, ain't that what you wanted? Ultimate, goddamn, power" hissed the Squirrel King, stepping uncomfortably close to Edelgard and Hubert

"I'm sorry, time what?" asked Edelgard. "Furthermore, your breath reeks of alcohol" she stated as her nose wrinkled slightly

Conker laughed, "Time, my drinkin, none of it will really matter to ya in the end. The point is, join us, and you can take these here weapons."

Edelgard instinctually raised her hand, and the weapons flew to her, orbiting around her.

"Ha! They like ya! C'mon, let's g-"

Suddenly another portal opened. Mario leaped out of the portal slamming his fist into the ground followed by Marth

"You!" Hubert shouted, "You're one of the warriors from Askr!"

"Yes, Sir Hubert. However, I'm afraid now isn't the time for pleasantries."

Hubert growled, poised to say more, but Edelgard held up her hand, "That we could infer, but you must state your purpose."

Marth cleared his throat, "Think of the situation on Askr, but beyond the scope of the Fire Emblem. I and my compatriot Mario here are members of The Super Smash Brothers. Many of our mutual allies from Askr have also joined the cause. We seek to change the world…"

Conker cackled with laughter, "Yeah! Through peace n' politics. But us? We know this world isn't salvageable how it is. It hasta be destroyed, rewritten."

"I know your history Edelgard, and why that history may predicate your allegiance with Conker and his fold" Marth began, which caused Mario to snap a confused glance at him, "Similarly, that allegiance can be made with us and lead to the accomplishment of that same goal. Ultimately, you must decide whether people can be shown the way, or whether brute force is necessary. Whatever you believe, I can respect it, but understand if you go the cataclysmic route…with them, this will put us on opposite ends,"

Edelgard clutched The Sword of the Creator. Her teeth clenched briefly, pointing the sword at the Smash Brothers representative. Marth unsheathed his sword, ready to fight. Suddenly, she swung the sword for Conker's head…. Only to be blocked by the long sword of the silver-haired man. Hubert immediately made a long, sweeping gesture with his hand, which caused a magical ball of fire to materialize in the air and hurtle right towards the silver-haired man. Without even turning to acknowledge the attack, a dark orb hurdled towards the blast of fire, extinguishing it. Hubert gasped in shock, while Edelgard's eyes widened in horror as she and her opponent jockeyed for position in their stalemate

"What are you?" gasped Edelgard

The man smirked, "You, young lady, may call me Sephiroth. As for what I am, I am a god.": he said with a snarl.

Suddenly, a second blade caught Sephiroth on his shoulder, breaking the clashing of blades he had with Edelgard. To the princess' shock, Marth stood by her side. Together, Marth and Edelgard lunged forward with piercing blows. However, Sephiroth stood unphased. With an animalistic growl, Sephiroth swung his blade with an impossible ferocity, seemingly cutting the air around them. Even though Marth and Edelgard were somehow moving in complete synch, both warriors began to fumble, losing their footing progressively with each blow. All this while Mario and Hubert worked to parry Sephiroth's dark orbs with fire attacks. Edelgard was the first to lose her footing, being flung backward a few inches, landing flat on her back. Meanwhile, Marth had taken a defensive stance as Sephiroth had, but somehow, each strike of Sephiroth's allowed Marth to meet his opponent's sword

"COUNTER! COUNTER! COUNTER!" Marth screamed with each blow

Edelgard shakily rose to her feet, and, with a thought, summoned Failnaught to her.

" _Goddess, I hope my aim is as good as Claude's_ thought Edelgard

She aimed the bow, and as she mimed the motion of pulling back an arrow to fire, an arrow of light appeared, primed to fire. She fired. The arrow of light launched from the bowstring, nailing Sephiroth in the exact center of the forehead. Sephiroth fumbled, and as he did, Marth pulled his sword back for several seconds, finally stabbing Sephiroth in the gut, "EY! SEPHIROTH! LET'S BLOW THIS FREAKIN JOINT!" wailed Conker

Sephiroth answered with an affirmative grunt. He leaped backward, standing beside Conker

Mario noticed a dark orb dissipate before his or Hubert's fire blast connected with it.

"HUBERT! HIT THEM WITH YOUR STRONGEST A-FIRE SPELL! NOW!"

Hubert nodded, folding his hands in what appeared to be prayer. As he did, several meteors of fire shot into the air. As that happened, Mario connected both of his outspread palms and thrusts his arms outward

"OH YEAH! FEE-YAHHHHHH!" screamed Mario as he unleashed his most powerful attack, the Mario Finale."

From both the horizontal and vertical plains of existence, fire enveloped the villains briefly, and then the sheer force of each hero's fiery magic connected, combusting into a mighty explosion

For a brief second, the world stood still, the only sounds audible were the whistle of the winter wind, Mario's heavy breathing, and the oncoming horde of Monistary students, presumably wondering what in the name of the Goddess had just _exploded_ during morning lessons,

"Hey-a Marth," Mario panted, "Isn't…isn't Sephiroth that dude that almost blew up Cloud's planet?"

Marth opened his mouth to answer, but Hubert interrupted, "What in the….COMRADES! LOOK AT THE SMOKE!"

Mario could see the smoke where the magical onslaught had impacted, and as the smoke finally began to clear, Mario could see an all too familiar rainbow butterfly wing.

All Mario could do is mouth 'oh shit' to the open air as Conker's cackling once again echoed off the buildings of the Monistary, the complete absence of smoke finally revealing the foreboding wings, pumping with energy.

"Okay, now all the did was piss me off! This planet freakin' sucks! Blow it up Sephiroth ya one-winged little bastard! Use that Supernova move you were tellin' us all about!"

Whereas Conker's expression was manic with rage, Sephiroth's head was hung, his eyes glazed over

"What the hell? Did ya hear me, pretty boy?! I'm the KING OF ALL THE LAND! WHEN I SAY SOMETHIN' YOU FREAKIN DO IT!"

"Forgive my impudence King Conker" Sephiroth spoke, his voice a distracted monotone, "But blowing up a world without the proper forethought will make your plan nigh-on impossible to complete."

Conker's expression settled, the wings disappearing, "Hey, you're right. There's a reason I keep you around pretty boy. Well, that, and the ol' lady likes ya, but that's a story for another story. Alright big man, let's vamoose."

With that, Conker opened a portal and leaped through it. Sephiroth cast an expressionless glance back at the heroes before jumping in the portal himself. As the portal closed, students began to crowd around the four heroes, all exclaiming their congratulations and admiration. Unfortunately, the heroes were too winded to give truthful answers. Suddenly, amongst all the chatter, a loud voice erupted from the crowd.

"EDIE! EDIE! EDIE!"

Shoving her way through the crowd came the dark maroon-haired songstress Dorothea, Finally, upon making eye contact with Edelgard she gasped

"Oh thank the Goddess you're alright Edie! I mean, w-what happened. I heard an explosion, and then I realized you and Hubert weren't in class and then…"

"Dorothea, I'm…I'm fine" Edelgard mumbled, desperately trying to will the red out of her cheeks, "But there's some urgent business Hubert and I must attend to, and I don't know when I'll be back."

"You'll be hearing back from Edelgard in relatively short order Dorothea," Marth explained

"Yeah! We'll explain the specifics once we explain the specifics to Edelgard, but please-a bear with us." Mario piped in

Mario opened keyed a code into his wrist communicator touch screen, and a portal opened mere steps from where they stood.

"Edelgard, Hubert, if you'll follow us a-please," Mario explained

"Hey!" barked Dorothea, causing all four departing heroes' heads to whip around, "You two better be in contact on the double. Especially you, Edie, I'll…I'll miss you when you're gone"

Edelgard briefly wiped her eyes, "Agh, some ash got in my eye just there" Edelgard said with the smallest of grins, "I'll miss you too Dorothea. Keep the Eagles in line while Hubert and I are away. I'm counting on you. Oh, and also, please give Professor Byleth my warmest regards. Goodbye Dorothea"

Dorothea nodded silently before whisking away through the crowd. With that, the four stepped through the portal, into the Mansion's main lobby.

"My word." gasped Hubert, "This as fine a palace as I've ever been in. Wouldn't you agree Edelgard?"

"I would Hubert, I certainly would" Edelgard mumbled as she cast a fascinated gaze around the regal foyer in which they stood

"Marth, you settle them in, I've got to make the call for an all-hands meeting, alright-a?"

"Aye aye, Master Mario" Marth explained, as Mario bounded up the stairs.

There was a moment's silence is Mario disappeared behind the door at the top of the stairs, the tension of which was broken by Marth

"So…erm…normally I would give a tour and get you settled into your room, but it seems we may have a meeting first."

Another moment's silence, this time broken by Edelgard, "Prince Marth, may I ask you a question?"

Marth chuckled lightly, to which Edelgard found herself blushing. She hadn't really had time in her life to gauge what kind of human being she found attractive, but she would certainly be lying if she called Marth's voice anything other than heaven scent to her ears.

"There isn't any need for such formalities Edelgard. If you have a question, please, just ask it." came the voice of Marth

This snapped her out of the trance she was in, her body snapping to attention on instinct, as it would when formally addressed by an older noble. The white-haired princess cleared her throat, "Marth, if these weapons were meant for others, why did they bequeath themselves to me?"

Marth looked down at the floor briefly, pondering the query.

"Honestly Princess, I can't proclaim anything with impunity. However, in my experience with blessed weapons, typically the original forgers of the weapons, or the weapons' original keepers would've wanted you to have them."

That thought took the breath out of Edelgard's body. Amyr, her ax was a given, but the fact that Claude's weapon Failnaught, Dimitri's weapon Areadbhar, and the holy sword, the Sword of the Creator, had bequeathed themselves to her despite her endless thoughts of heresy, was simply astounding.

A pink, round blob bounded into the room, shouting, "Hiii!"

"Hello, Kirby! These are our new friends, Edlegard and Hubert" Marth introduced them

"Egg-le-gard" Kirby bellowed out slowly.

"Why you pink….thing!" hissed Hubert, "You will address Princess Edlegard von…"

Edelgard shushed her longtime confidant, "Hubert, whatever it is, it's clearly just a boy. Show some restraint!"

Marth chuckled, before his posture stiffened, "Oh! Can I ask you something very candid Princess?"

"Certainly," said the white-haired Princess with a nod.

"Why did….why did you choose us?" inquired the Altean prince

"Simple, at no point in your pitch to me did you tell me how to think. You allowed me that respect, unlike that vile squirrel, and unlike the Church."

Marth nodded, "Perhaps if you have our backing, we can resolve the conflict with the Monastery without violence."

Edelgard nodded, "I hope so too. I shudder to think of civilians getting caught in the way of achieving my goals, and I believe aligning myself here is the best way to achieve this. Hubert and I promise you that we will not raise violence with the church unless my empire is provoked."

Marth nodded vigorously back, "Mario will undoubtedly be pleased to hear this."

Suddenly, they heard conversation coming from seemingly every passageway that led into the main lobby Hubert and Edelgard flinched as the seemingly every door to the room. opened at once. The Adrestians could only stand slack-jawed at the manner of fantastical creatures that poured into the foyer. Even some of the humans wore clothing that baffled Edelgard's very understanding of fashion. The last to enter from the doors at the top of the staircase was Mario. As soon as he entered the room the room fell silent.

" Good afternoon-a Smashers. Recently, on an expedition to recruit a new fighter, we had a run-in with Conker the Squirrel."

Mario paused to let the crowd briefly murmur among themselves before continuing.

"During the confrontation, we fought not only Conker but also Sephiroth, an old enemy of Cloud's, to which I must say, our newest Smasher Edelgard and auxiliary member Hubert fought fabulously."

"WHAT?" barked Cloud from the back of the room, "Sephiroth's back again, and these two survived? Gotta say I'm impressed, even if I am pissed Sephiroth's back in the hunt."

Edelgard raised her hand and nodded, to make her thanks known. Hubert simply nodded in agreement.

"Yes. During the confrontation, it was also determined that Conker has somehow acquired Tabuu's power, to what amount we don't know."

"HA! I KNEW IT! WARIO YOU OWE ME FIFTY GEM APPLES YOU FAT, GARLIC SWILLIN' PERVERT!" bellowed a penguin with a hammer.

Mario sighed so loudly it was audible from the top of the staircase, "Dedede now isn't the time…"

"What-a even ARE-a Gem Apples-a? I won't pay! " whined Wario

"Wario…" pleaded Mario.

"ALRIGHT, IF YER GONNA A PANTYWAIST ABOUT IT, WE'S GONNA SETTLE ALL OUR BETS IN SMASH COINS ROUND THESE HERE PARTS YA BIG IDJIT!" Dedede boomed so loudly that the floor seemed to vibrate

"Smash Coins-a is the highest traded currency in the multiverse-a. That's expensive!" Wario whined even louder and more obnoxiously than before.

"YA GAT DERN PANTYWAIST, A BET IS A BET!"

"ENOUGH!" boomed a voice from the front of the room, an impossibly muscular blond with a whip sheathed over his back, "Master Mario…speaks" hissed the man.

"Thanks a bunch, a-Simon. So as I was saying, with these factors in mind, we are amplifying our recruitment process. Our goal was to open the tournament to 100 fighters, and we still intend to do that. However, once Saki and Green rejoin us, we fill the roles vacated by Hart and Monster Hunter, and we get Bowser Junior's Petey Piranha seedling…"

"YAHOO! PAPA! I CAN BRING PETEY TO THE TOURNAMENT!" squealed the spiked turtle that looked most like the big spiked turtle accompanying them all, who Edelgard presumed was Bowser Junior.

"Uh…we're pulling the trigger on that? Thought I told ya I'd think about it Mustache?" said boomed the larger spiked turtle, who the Adrestians immediately assumed was the first Bowser,

"I'm acquiring old Subspace assets, and that means we need Petey. This is not up for discussion." Mario said sternly.

"Um…excuse me, Mister Mario," piped up a blond-haired boy from the center of the crowd, "D-does that mean…?"

"I'll speak to you and Ness individually when I have a game plan" Mario affirmed, "Even with the fighters spots we intend to fill, we are still twenty fighters short. Training rooms will be open starting tomorrow, and I would ask that those of you who wish to assist in recruitment during this time, please let an administrative team member know so that we can evaluate your performance and determine which recruitment tasks would be best suited for you. Once the remaining 20 fighters are registered that's when we'll have the traditional Physics Week, in which the training rooms will be open to everyone-a, start letting tourists into Smash City, and opening ceremonies. Finally, I'd like to make an announcement in terms of leadership. Marth, I know we didn't have a formal discussion about this-a, but you really showed your potential leading up to and during Edelgard's recruitment, so I am awarding you Vice Presidency. Marth will be absorbing some of my responsibilities in the day to day operations, however, I will be apart of the recruitment process. I guess this segues into my next-a point. I owe some of my dearest friends an apology for how distant I've been lately. This last recruitment has been a positive exercise in the fact that I-a can relinquish some control."

Mario paused to lock eyes with a blond in a pink dress, who's eyes were welling already with tears.

"I should say" Mario continued after a long breath, "This isn't limited to Marth, or even limited to the administrative team. You would a-not be apart of the Smash Order if I didn't believe in your capacity to help this cause. I expect you to pass down that belief to Hubert, Edelgard, and the new members of this order that will join us in the coming weeks. Remember my friends, WE. ARE. SMASH. BROTHERS!"

Edelgard suspected that, by the sheer volume, about 80 percent of the crowd reciprocated the chant. Edelgard cast a glance at Hubert, who uncharacteristically smirked. Edelgard had to hold back a burst of laughter. Was Hubert having _fun_? Either way, if he was confident in this group of strange beings, she was too.

Mario smiled briefly as he saw Pit rush up and enthusiastically shake the hands of the newcomers with Palutena trailing close behind. Soon, Mario knew, the goddess would be lecturing Pit about being too eager.

 _At least my little speech inspired some people_ Mario thought as he pushed his way through the set of doors. They closed behind him, and it was only at that point Mario realized that the hallway was completely dark.

Except for a glowing pair of blue eyes

"Greetings Master Mario" droned a familiar voice

"Guardian Alloy?" Mario inquisitively whispered, "What in the Seven Stars are you doing out of the sublevels?"

"I bare an urgent message from Master Hand. He has taken the liberty of selecting the final twenty fighters for you."

"Guardian Alloy, Master Hand is gone. He has been for years."

"Our dimension's Master Hand, yes. But, all Master Hands of the multiverse are connected to all the Guardian Alloys of the multiverse"

Mario's eyes widened with realization, "Does that mean that Master Hand unlocked the future in the archives?"

Guardian Alloy's mechanical parts seemed to whir for a second before he continued, "You are familiar with the game chess, correct?"

Mario blinked at the question before responding, "Yes? Who isn't?"

"Then you know a chess player can only assemble the pieces, but he cannot predict how the game will play out, correct?"

"Yes?"

"Master Hand has given you the pieces necessary, but even he, the great omnipotent one himself, cannot influence or predict the coming conflict."

"Right. I understand now."

"The Master is pleased with this. I bid you farewell Master Mario, as the Archives Room remains unguarded."

Suddenly, the lights clicked on, and Guardian Alloy was nowhere to be seen. As he was processing all that had just happened, he felt someone wrap in a hug from behind

"Oh, Mario…" cooed the voice of Peach, "That speech was absolutely wonderful. I assume you're diminishing your role…because of us?"

Mario sighed, "Yeah babe. It boggles my mind how you can hang out with us all and simultaneously run a kingdom. I can barely do one or the other, as you've a-seen these past few days."

"It's because, tied with our kingdom, you're my number one priority and the social events that that entails. I know that people possess different levels of energy, and you've reached your peak. I'm really appreciative of the fact that you didn't burn yourself out at both ends my darling."

"Being a good partner to you means as much to me as The Smash Brothers do."

Peach pecked him on the cheek with a giggle. Mario and Peach had kissed several times before this, and had done much more than that, but somehow, those pecks of hers always melted his legs like butter, as if he were 12 years old getting his first kiss all over again.

"Peach, when we start letting tourists in, get your nicest dress, I'll put on my suit, and we'll get a gourmet meal prepared on a rooftop someplace, just-a you and me."

Peach let out an exaggerated 'hmm before continuing, "On one condition"

Mario chuckled, "Name it,"

"Can you wear the top hat? You look so _goddamn dapper_ in it."

Mario was slack-jawed, "Did you just curse?"

"Blame Samus seeing Ridley in the hallway every day for the past few weeks. I believe I've managed to learn every curse word from her world in that length of time."

"Oh Seven Stars" Mario gasped, "She's not cussing in front of the kids is she?"

"Oh, she knows that Captain Falcon would give her a stern talking-to if she did."

"Ey, if you see her before me tell her Uncle Mario said to pretend there's a kid there every time she sees Ridley. Pass that on to Bayonetta too, so she has no excuse."

Peach bit her lip, "Look at you, acting all maternal and whatnot. I would be lying if I said it wasn't dreamy as hell"

"Peach!"

"Or, dreaming as 'heck' as Isabelle would say."

Mario chuckled once again, "Well, we can get dreamy tomorrow night. I'm about to drop into bed like a Thwomp"

Peach giggled in turn, "I won't keep you then my darling. Good night."

The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom finally released her hug, as she watched her knight in shining denim sleepily amble down the hallway to the master suite.

(AN: Hi all, SmashBrosOdyssey here. Just wanted to say that Hubert's "super move" was done with the intention of wanting to do a super move, but being unaware of how crits/gambits worked in Fire Emblem Three Houses, so a compromise was made between the two. That aside, thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter in which Snake and Isabelle make cookies for Edelgard! What hijinks will ensue? Find out next week!)


	17. Interlude 3: Cookies!

**Interlude: Cookies!**

 **POP!  
** With a string of curse words, Snake immediately flew out of bed to tuck and roll away from whatever was _shooting_ at him he guessed. Only after peaking up from over the bed did he see Isabelle standing there, her eyes wide with shock, holding the remains of a party popper, "Um…I didn't expect you to react that way Mister Snake." sheepishly remarked the secretary.

 _Would a dog from a cartoon world understand PTSD?_ thought Snake as he mulled over what to say next.

"I, uh….startle easily. I'm sorry to scare you."

Isabelle closed her eyes and giggled, "Don't apologize, Mister Snake, it's clear I'm the one that scared you! Tee hee!"

Snake let a wry grin escape him. He had to admit, that was funny.

"So, why the wakeup call?"

"Hm?" Isabelle asked, cocking her head to the side

"C'mon, I know how well dogs can hear."

Suddenly, realization dawned on Isabelle's face, "Oh! You don't remember?"

 _Shit._

"Remember what?"

"We're supposed to bake cookies for Edelgard, Hubert, and Sonic today!"

Another grin. Something about this girl's obsession with baking for large groups reminded him of Sunny. Maybe that's why she melted his old, icy heart.

"Aw. I was hoping you forgot" playfully chided the mercenary

Isabelle shrugged, "Nope! I'm heading to the kitchen now! Come on down when you're decent!" she said, skipping merrily out the door, and presumably to the kitchen on the lower level.

As Snake had only worn underwear to bed, he simply threw on a tank top and some a pair of plaid pajama pants Nana had knitted him for the end of the Brawl tournament. He went into the shared bathroom, flipped on the light, and rummaged through the cabinet on the sink, finding what he was looking for, a large suitcase. He opened the suitcase, finding a tupperware container opening it briefly to review its contents.

 _Ah ha, ration cookies_ Snake thought triumphantly _Now, to brush my teeth_

Snake began to brush his teeth, he started to hum a tune. Like the smell of military ration cookie dough, this song resonated throughout his childhood. It was the voice of his mother EVA who was singing for sure, but how could he have heard it? Had she sung it to him and Liquid before they were separated? Had it been recorded to soothe him from and left to his unfeeling handlers, who couldn't soothe a baby to save their lives. Regardless, the tune reminded him of peace, and so, on days when he was in a good mood, he would think of it.

 _What a thrill_

 _With darkness and silence through the night_

 _What a thrill_

 _I'm searching and I'll melt into you_

 _What a fear in my heart_

 _But you're so supreme!_

 _I give my life_

 _Not for honor, but for you_

That last part always hit him with a twinge of sadness, "I give my life, not for honor, but for you"

 _Maybe that's why I love this place so much, so many honorable people. Something about this place has a calming effect, even the evil Smashers seem to be civil_ Snake thought as he spat the toothpaste from his mouth into the sink. He briefly considered flossing,

"No," Snake grumbled to no one in particular, "I'm having cookies for breakfast, what's the point?"

He briefly considered using mouth wash but…

"No, I think I'm going to have a few more cigarettes than normal today, so what's the point?"

Snake muttered to himself briefly about having cookies for breakfast as a "grown-ass man" as he picked up the container, leaving his room, closing the door behind him, the special Tupperware container tucked under his arm.

The walk to the kitchen had been surprisingly brief, and as he opened the door to the small kitchen, he could hear Isabelle chattering with someone already. Snake opened the door. The woman with Snake had exceptionally…fluffy brown hair was wearing a thick looking pink sweater and was wearing some polka dot leggings as pants, a modern fashion choice that had baffled Snake when Bayonetta had tried to explain it to him, and a black short skirt with red trim.

"Who are you?" Snake asked the mystery girl.

Isabelle yipped in his direction, which caught the mercenary soldier's attention, "Snake! That is NOT how we greet people!"

Snake felt a hot wash of shame as if he'd been reprimanded by a teacher.

"I'm sorry Isabelle, it's a force of habit."

The secretary to the Mayor of Smashville put her paws on her hips somewhat playfully, "Well, then try again" she said with an amused smirk on her face

Snake sighed, "Hello, my name's Solid Snake. I don't believe we've met."

The fluffy-haired girl smiled politely, "No, I don't believe we have, we couldn't have. My name's Haru Okumura. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Snake, I'm a…erm…colleague of Joker's."

 _Great, another person on the 'Mister Snake' train. At this rate, Ocelot will be calling me that by the time the tournament's over._

Suddenly something clicked in Snake's head that the Okumura girl had said earlier

"Wait, what do you mean couldn't have? Where have you been all this time?"

Haru sighed while Isabelle snorted with laughter, "It's a long and complicated story that involves our other colleague Futaba using the internet to spread false rumors about who Fighter 5 would be. I believe she used the name 'Brew' or was it 'Papa' something? Anyway, the robot, ROB found out about it, and we've been grounded for the lack of a better term up until today."

"Remind me to introduce your friend Futaba to my friend Otacon."

"I mean, if Futaba has another hacker friend out of this, I think we'd all be for it."

Isabelle giggled, which brought the other two's attention to her. At a speed which seemed to rival Sonic's with no discernable explanation, she was whizzing around the kitchen, getting out the necessary tools and ingredients.

"Isabelle, no need for that. I've got my own homemade recipe right here" Snake announced to the girls with a broad smile, retrieving setting the container that contained his cookies on the kitchen island

Isabelle stopped briefly, opening the container and retrieving a cookie, "Why is this wrapped like a muffin?" inquired Isabelle

She sniffed it briefly, and began to gag uncontrollably, "EW!" the normally docile dog shrieked in between gags, "WHY DO THEY SMELL LIKE CIGARETTES?"

"Cigarettes?" asked a baffled Haru, "You can't be serious"

Now it was Haru's turn to sniff a cookie. Her face contorted, "SNAKE! WHY WOULD YOU BRING COOKIES THAT SMELL LIKE CIGARETTES!"

"It's the way my father made them." snapped Snake

"And what kind of man was your father?" protested Isabelle

"A man who lived exclusively off of Korean War rations." Snake explained

Haru raised an eyebrow at him. Her next words came out slowly as if it was breaking every bit of her constitution to have to speak them in real life, "Do you mean like…the Korean/American War? The one that happened 60 years ago?"

"No, you don't understand. My father had these rations made this way because that's how things were in his time when he was a soldier. These are relatively fresh ingredients, just made the old way."

"Snake…how old are these rations?" asked Haru, who's choked back voice indicated she was one comment away from vomiting

"Let's see…Zanzibar Land was in '99, so that old."

"I wasn't even born yet" dryly remarked Haru, her eyes wide with horror, and her skin drained of color, "Oh my God, Isabelle, I can't. I'm sorry, I just…" she babbled as she staggered out of the kitchen.

"Nonononono," protested Isabelle, who skittered to hold block Haru's exit by placing her paws firmly on her abdomen, "Snake have….have you been cooking like your father….this whole time?" asked the secretary

Snake paused. No one had ever called his self-sufficiency into question before, nor had he ever examined it himself.

"I mean, I've only ever been a soldier. I live off rations and the land, and I've never really had to examine it further."

Haru's ironclad will to get out of the kitchen softened, her eyes gazing to Snake with a look of pity, "Oh no, Snake. I'm so sorry"

Isabelle grinned, "Well, we can examine it right now, and teach you how to make chocolate chip cookies the proper way. Then will all be forgiven Snake?"

Snake smiled, "Yeah, all would be forgiven."

"Hooray!" cheered Isabelle, "C'mon Haru, I'll need your help. We'll be explaining the process as we go, so Snake, put on your best listening ears, and learn from the masters." she concluded with a wink

For the next hour, Solid Snake, the mercenary of legend…learned how to bake chocolate chip cookies with the finest ingredients available. He watched as Isabelle and Haru combined ingredients to make a delicious dough, and in the process, surmised that baking could be a leisurely activity if the skills involved were sufficiently mastered. The trade was a fair one, however, as while the cookies baked in the oven, Snake, Isabelle, and Haru played poker, with Snake teaching the two inexperienced women the rules of the game. Before they knew it, the cookies were done, a delicious golden brown, as the smell of chocolate permeated the air.

As Snake set the cookies down on the table with the help of some bright pink unicorn oven mitts Haru had brought, Isabelle keyed into her wrist communicator.

Suddenly Sonic zipped into the room, snagging a cookie as he ran. As he came to a stop, he was already halfway through the cookie he had pilfered

"Oh, man who made these?" Sonic announced to the room

That's when Sonic caught Snake out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh my Emeralds no" Sonic shivered, his complexion now a ghostly pale

"What's wrong Mister Sonic?" asked Isabelle with a frown

"You had HIM bake these? HIM?" Sonic shouted, "He gave me the jelly bar from his rations when we were roommates, and I had to go to Doctor Mario to get my stomach pumped, and lemme tell ya, that's no good!" Sonic exclaimed, dramatically putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head with vigor.

"But Mister Sonic, I supervised!" Isabelle squeaked, "Miss Haru did too!"

"Oh! That explains why these are good then! If Snake can bake something edible, that must mean you're some kinda miracle worker Miss Isabelle"

Snake looked over to see Isabelle blush and stammer out something humble in reply, but Snake's blood could only run cold.

 _Oh no. if Sonic and Isabelle become an item. I'll have to see if Otacon can just shoot me in the back of the head._

"We got your message on this confounded wrist machine" came a voice from the kitchen entrance

Edelgard strolled into the room, followed closely by Hubert, both nobles curiously eying the cookies on the kitchen island

"Ah! Glad you could make it Mister Hubert, Miss Edelgard. I'm Isabelle, this is Haru, one of Joker's friends, and…"

"I'm Solid Snake. Pleased to meet you Edelgard."

"And I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive!"

Hubert and Edelgard simultaneously raised their eyebrows at that, but Edelgard was quick to change subjects, "Oh my, you've made sweets to welcome Hubert and I, how kind!"

"Now Your Highness," interjected Hubert, "You need to be in top fighting shape for this tournament. I would suggest one sweet, for each of us of course. It's only fair that I hold myself to the same standards that I hold you to."

Edelgard nodded, taking a cookie, and biting into it. Her eyes went wide, as if she was a young child tasting sugar for the first time, "By the Goddess Hubert this might be the finest sweet I've ever had."

"Really?" Hubert asked, taking a cookie of his own. His eyes too, went wide, "As usual Your Highness, your observations are as sharp as ever. This is delicious!"

Edelgard held up a finger with a bemused smirk on her face, "Remember Hubert, one sweet."

Hubert grumbled, "Confound it."

Sonic smirked, "Here, let me take the temptation away."

Sonic bolted around the cookie table several times, and in a flash, all the cookies were gone. The only evidence of the crime was Sonic shouting, "Thanks for the cookies Isabelle!" as bolted down the hallway.

"Oh dear," Hubert mused, shock in his eyes, "I do believe he might be the fastest thing alive, as he said."

"We shouldn't underestimate hearsay in this realm Hubert, as it's full of surprises," remarked Edelgard, turning to the other people in the room, "I suppose we must be going. Thank you again for the sweets, they were delicious!" Edelgard said with a wave as she and Hubert exited the kitchen

Snake turned to Haru and Isabelle, "Thanks for the lesson girls, but I'll be taking a nap here soon."

"It was our pleasure teaching your Mister Snake. It was quite fun!" Haru exclaimed with a smile

"I second that!" agreed Isabelle, "Have a good nap, Mister Snake"

Snake stretched, "Oh, trust me, I will." he said, ambling out of the kitchen

Much to his amusement, as he walked out of earshot, he heard Isabelle mutter something to Haru about "destroying those yucky rations with my mallet"

 **Later that evening**

When Snake awoke from his nap, he had two private messages on his wrist communicator. One was from Ryuji, the blond one of Joker's posse, exclaiming how hilarious the 'cigarette cookie' prank was, and how much Ryuji 'effin loved him' and 'effin loved Smash Bros'. The other was from Greninja

"Monsieur Snake, I believe we should be in the training room as much as possible over the next week mon ami. I hear that Mario et ses amis are looking to recruit a ninja, and I believe we would be the team for the job. Répondez s'il vous plait."

Snake was dreary from the nap, but his French was sharp enough to comprehend what the ninja frog from the France-influenced Pokemon country was implying. As fun as cookie baking was, a soldier always had an itch for a fight that they could never scratch, and with the training rooms having been closed for so long, a fight was long overdue.


	18. Origins: Quinn (featuring Inkling)

**Origins: Quinn**

In the multiverse, many deities were believed in and subsequently worshipped. However, in each corner of the multiverse, some fringe scholars believed in "Creators" a group of sentient beings who have sculpted every aspect of the multiverse to reflect the adventures they imagine. However, there was one place where Creators were believed in almost universally. The capital of this planet was the tropical Wuhu Island, and its populace was simply known as Miis. Wuhu Island had become the center of trade and commerce in the multiverse around the time of the Duel Tournament, when its champions Hart Bromeister and Plum, captain of the Mii Police Force, were chosen to represent their ilk in the tournament. As a result of that exposure, so people from all over began to flock to Wuhu. As people from all over the multiverse enjoyed the sports and recreation Wuhu Island had to offer, these tourists had picked up on the Miis' religious tendencies Rumor quickly spread that the Miis were crafted in the image of the Creators by the Creators themselves, although most Miis, who were humble, laid-back people, would never affirm such narcissistic nonsense, preferring to simply enjoy life with their neighbors, and have a good time doing it.

However, here in the present time, there was one Mii who had reason to be anxious and concerned. His name was Quinn Marmaduke, and he was a student of the Hart Bromeister Brawler School, opened by the former Smasher after his heroics in a near cataclysmic incident had ended his fighting career. Now, here Quinn was after a month-long series of lucky wins, finding himself in the finals of a school-wide, single-elimination tournament. There had been tournaments of this format before, usually to signal the end of a term or a major holiday. However, this was without a doubt the biggest tournament in the school's history, all because of the prize, which was the honor of representing the school in the Smash Brothers Ultimate Tournament, taking Hart's spot on the roster. Quinn had been the talk of the town, as a middle-ranked member of the "average joe" team, Red Team, he had surpassed several high ranked members of his own team as well as the notoriously lackluster Green team, the second-tier blue team, and the elite Yellow Team In a few hours, Quinn would take on his opponent, the very reason why the Yellow Team was the highest-ranked in the school, Matt Hennig, the team's captain. Matt was objectively the best fighter, nay, the best athlete at school. Whatever the task, whether it was as intensive as hand to hand combat, or something as low-key as a game of horseshoes, Matt's technique was immaculate, and he was unbeatable. What's more, it had been that way since the dawn of the original Wii Sports league, to the point where Matt was known as "Matt from Wii Sports," And Quinn would have to fight this man to make his dreams come true. But that was two hours from now. For now, Quinn was happy to sit in the darkness of his shared dormitory and contemplate. That was until the door opened, and out of the fluorescent light stepped a figure with a familiar voice.

"Bro, why is it so dark in here?"

Quinn sighed. It was his roommate, the school's consummate slacker, so much so that it stood out on the already lackadaisical Green Team, known only by his last name, Riddle. Riddle flipped on the light, Quinn turning to grimace as the sudden burst of light hit his eyeballs. When Quinn's eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that like himself, Riddle was adorned in his team workout jersey. Although the Mii hardly every participated in Smash training, often putting forth minimal effort when he did, the guy sure did love to work out.

"Dude, I was just…thinking about today"

Riddle blew a raspberry in dismissal, "Bro, that's like, your problem man. You're always anxious, always thinking. That ain't good for fighting bro."

"Riddle I really don't need your advice right n-"

"No, hear me out bro. When you think in a fight, your opponent can like, tell you're thinking and stuff. Just do what you gotta do, and go with your heart, not your brain. I read somewhere your heart's instincts are usually right

The hazel-eyed, hazel haired, Mii raised his eyebrow at his long blond-haired, green-clad roommate, "You read?"

Another dismissive raspberry, "Bro, of course, I do! But the language of love is more familiar to me than anything in a book!"

Quinn sighed. Usually when Riddle brought up love or girls apropos of nothing, that usually meant he was bringing a girl to their dorm for some romantic activities. Coincidentally, girls and working out were the only two things Riddle seemed to be serious about. "You got a girl coming?" asked Marmaduke

"You bet I do man! Sally again!"

Once again, Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Again? She must be something special if you bring her around more than twice."

Riddle smirked, "I guess so bro. Romantics do say there's somebody out there for everybody. Dude, I bet there's somebody out there for _you_ even. Maybe if you did anything other than study and train, you'd find them!" chided Riddle with a playful wink

Quinn rolled his eyes, getting up to leave. Briefly patting down his pockets to make sure had had his most personal belongings, his wallet and his room key, he exited the door. "Wish me luck!" Quinn said with a wave.

"Yeah, man! Me n' Sally will be watching you on TV, rootin for ya!" waved back Riddle

With that, Quinn closed the door, breathing in, steeling himself for the several block jog to Wuhu stadium

\

 **Wuhu Stadium**

Quinn paused in front of the massive, open-air colosseum that was Wuhu Stadium. Constructed at the end of the Duel tournament specifically for Smash Brothers training and matches. Despite all locations being computer simulated during official tournaments to guarantee the safety of its competitors, real-life analogs were built in specific places in the multiverse so that those interested could attempt to train in the Smasher style. Wuhu Island, a town called Smashville, the adjacent city to Smashville, and several stadiums in the Pokemon universe were places Quinn could think of off the top of his head that was either built from the ground up or reconfigured to suit this very purpose.

Quinn flashed his school ID to the man working the parking booth, and the gate raised. Steeling himself with a deep breath once again, Quinn jogged to the front of the stadium, where he saw a single man waiting for him. Sporting his signature cowlick brown hair, adorned in an all-red three-piece suit, and sporting his trademark oversized sunglasses was Hart Bromeister, the original Mii Fighter

"Hey bro! You're lucky this island runs on Wuhu time mother ducker, or else you'd be late" shouted the man

"Sorry, Mister Hart! Thought I'd jog to the stadium instead of taking the shuttle!"

Hart smirked, " Ha! Running out the anxiousness! You're just like me bro! Just show 'em whatcha know, and you'll do Red Team proud dude! C'mon, follow me!"

As Hart directed Quinn to the locker room area, he saw something bolt by. It was a humanoid, with…scales for hair? And it was holding an outfit on a hanger as it ran?

"Inklings?" Quinn remarked but caught himself

Luckily the busy Inkling hadn't heard, but Hart whipped around, "Yeah man! I just got the deal ironed out a couple of days ago! Whoever wins you and Matt's fight will be in an exhibition against Torri Gachi."

Quinn's eyes went wide. In the Inklings' native sport of Turf War, which was a hot ticket item on Wuhu Island television. One of its rising stars was Torri Gachi. A rebellious sort from one of Inkopolis' wealthiest families, the purple-tentacled Torri was a beloved celebrity wherever one could reliably watch the great sport of Turf War.  
And she was here…to potentially fight him. Quinn could only gulp.

"What's that man? You're too tightly wound. Don't think. You've got it."

"Riddle said the same thing before I left," remarked Quinn

Hart chuckled lightly, "Hey, my cousin has some pretty good advice sometimes bro."

"You guys are cousins?" Quinn asked. Then, he thought of all the 'bros" he'd heard between them today, "Actually, that makes all the sense in the world now that I think about it."

Hart laughed, "C'mon, we've messed around enough, we need to head to the locker room"

Hart and Quinn stayed mostly silent on the remainder of the walk down to the catacombs of Wuhu Stadium, with Hart occasionally shooting one quick question to a production assistant. Quinn had assumed that it was something about tonight's presentation, but he couldn't focus enough to listen. Hart opened the door to a locker room. It was a lush space, with a couch, and TV as its centerpieces with some water in an ice bucket in the corner.

"I would say you can get changed here but uh… it looks like you're already in your gear."

For the first time since his morning workout, Quinn cast a glance down at himself. True to Hart's word, he was wearing the workout uniform symbolic of the Brawler School, a team color gi with a black belt tied around his waist with oddly futuristic-looking metal kick pads on his legs adorned by the Smash Bros logo Had he seriously not changed from working out? Had he seriously been so up his own butt that he didn't even bring a change of clothes like a civilized person? When it came time to respond to Hart's quip, all the young man could muster was a sheepish, "Oh."

Hart erupted into laughter, "Nah man don't sweat it, we've all done dumber I'm sure. And running to the stadium in your gear is a hell of an advertisement for the school. Good job kiddo!" he said, patting Quinn on the shoulder, "I gotta go see if Matt's ready, a production assistant will let you know when it's time to do your walkout. Good luck bro!" Hart said, with a playful salute as he walked out the door.

 _Whelp, guess I've got the time to work out,_ thought Quinn as he set about beginning his warm-up stretches.

 **An hour and a half later**

Quinn surmised he hadn't stopped moving since Hart left the room. Sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, running in place, shadow boxing, oblique exercises, even pull-ups on one of the coat hangers drilled into the wall. Hart has done it all. What had inspired the near-perpetual movement was the perpetual beehive Quinn's mind became whenever he stopped to transition between sets, at which point the severity of his situation. Here he was, an average at best fighter despite all the work he put in, up against the very face of Wuhu pride, not to mention athletic perfection. Then, like a lightbulb in a cartoon, a realization had dawned on him, something that Riddle had said earlier today.

 _Just do what you gotta do, and go with your heart, not your brain,_

"My heart, not my brain. My heart, not my brain. My heart, not my…"

 **KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK  
** "Quinn, it's the time!

Quinn opened the door, seeing uniformed Mii Police ready to walk with him to the arena floor, as well as a camera ready to document the action. As the crew began to move, with one police officer on either side, he noticed that the cameraman was walking backward with incredible ease, filming the walkout. Batting his instinctual urge to mug for the camera, Quinn tucked his chin, shadowboxing as he walked. For what seemed like forever, the men walked in the same formation, until Quinn could see the sunshine of Wuhu Island being down. He heard the upbeat orchestral tempo of the Duel Tournament's theme song as well.

Taking one final deep breath, he ran through the curtains to the adulation of the crowd. As it had been all tournament, the adulation seemed to come mostly from women of all varying ages. Hart had explained that he had a "boy band" quality to him, but even with that distinction, Quinn couldn't understand what they saw in him.

Quinn struck a karate stance in the middle of the oddly curved Wuhu Island stage to an even shriller squeal of approval from the girls in the audience. A strangely polygonal looking man adorned in an all-black referee outfit pointing him to his side of the arena. There were a few seconds of silence before the opening notes of the Wii Sports theme hit, causing a roar of approval as the denizens of Wuhu Island welcomed their hero. Quinn meanwhile, was genuflecting in his corner, faced away from the enormous jumbotron, not out of desperate pleas to The Creators, or out of fear, but out of focus. Matt was most well-known for an unflinching scowl, and if Quinn allowed himself to be intimidated by that, the fight had already been lost. More roaring indicated to Quinn that Matt had entered the arena. Quinn stood, hopping up and down briefly to get the blood flowing again, as a hush fell over the arena. Suddenly, a cybernetic blue aura enveloped the arena floor, disappearing as quickly as it had come. Quinn closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. He felt the gravity change, almost as if everything was lighter, allowing him to jump higher and faster. 

They were on playing under Smash Rules now.

Both fighters headed to the center of the arena to receive instructions from the referee, "Rules are three stock, no time limit, items on medium. Damage percentages will not be shown Any questions?"

Quinn shook his head, Matt just grunted.

Suddenly, the referee teleported away, while a very familiar voice was heard

" **3, 2, 1, GO!** "

Both men struck fighting stances for a moment, eying each other up, before Matt broke the silence, "You know what I don't like about you Smash folk?"

Quinn pondered the question then…  
 **SMACK!  
** Matt cuffed an unsuspecting Quinn across the face.

When he had first begun at the school, Quinn had been hit by a car during a jog. Without question, the slap to the face from Matt had hurt more.

"Too fancy," Matt snarled, grabbing Quinn by the gi, "I bet I could beat you without using one of Headmaster Hart's fancy-schmancy special moves punk"

It was around that moment that Quinn regained his footing, having noticed that the flying platform had flown to the bridge section already. His grasp of the situation was to be short-lived, however. Matt spiked his head into the ground. When Quinn stood back up, he found himself knocked into the air by a kick, and then another, sending them both over a gap in the bridge. As Quinn flopped through the air, he noticed a Pokeball had appeared just behind him. Scrambling to grab the red and white ball as he landed on his back, he spiked the ball onto the floor next to him. As the ball broke apart, and energy erupted from it, Quinn heard a familiar cry.

"Rai-chu!"

Quinn smirked. Alolan Raichu wasn't exactly the best Pokemon on the list of the critters one could find in a Smash battle, but at this point, he would take it. Using its tail as a surfboard to fly through the air, Raichu flew towards Matt completely unhesitant Just as Quinn got to his feet, he noticed Matt and the Raichu had collided, Matt struck a defensive fighting stance, a pang erupting through the air, his eyes flashing an eerie yellow, followed closely by another. This was a technique called "parrying". Instructors at the school had explained it as using one's chi to reflect the damage an attack would do into the air. This technique was typically only mastered by Team Captains are people close to the rank. Luckily for Quinn though, Matt was being attacked handily by the Raichu, with no way to handle the blows until the Pokemon disappeared into thin air. Just as Quinn began to breathe a little easier, a familiar melody reached his ears, the melody of the Super Star item. The jaunty, triumphant tune came closer as Matt leaped through the air, once again peppering Quinn with kicks. Judging how Quinn felt, he had to estimate he was somewhere in the mid-forties range of damage percent. It was then the red and white hover pad that the two had begun their battle on picked them up again, this time sporting a floating platform in the center. This did not phase Matt however, who simply grabbed Quinn by the shirt and tossed him to the opposite end of the stage, where an Assist Trophy happened to spawn. Triumphantly holding the trophy in the air, it's casing shattered, and the ninja from the Earth Solid Snake resided from, Grey Fox, leaped out, muttering something unintelligible as he bolted for Matt. Before Matt could even think to defend, Grey Fox delivered a lightning-fast volley of Slashes. Matt broke away, trying to juke the automated visage of the ninja with worried huffs, first jumping onto the platform, and then stepping off. Even with these evasive maneuvers, on the far right of the platform, Grey Fox slashed into Matt again and again. It was then that Quinn had an idea, "Time to show off a bit." he muttered to himself.

Quinn ran to the center of the platform, taking a few more steps to line up his shot, and then executed. His dominant right hand glowed a fiery red as the power within allowed him to slide effortlessly towards Matt. He grabbed him by the throat, as the two launched into the air, pivoting so Matt's scowling face had an unplanned date with the floor.

"SUPLEX!" screamed Quinn as the two combatants hurtled towards the floor, suppressing a howl of laughter as Matt was brought back into the final slashes of Grey Fox's slashing assault before the Assist Trophy disappeared.

As it had before, the Wuhu Island platform gave way. Now, the two combatants were atop the metal starting line for the island's Power Cruiser (known in literally every other place in the world as Jet Ski) races. Suddenly, Matt punched Quinn right in the privates. As he fell to the ground in pain, another Assist Trophy appeared out of nowhere. This time, when the capsule broke, Quinn heard a nasally, maniacal laugh.

 _Creator damn it, it's Waluigi._

The automated visage of the bizarrely loved purple-clad man began to stomp on an already downed Quinn, burying him in the ground. As Waluigi stomped without pause, Quinn briefly thanked the absence of a damage percentage on his wrist. The assumedly astronomical number, combined with the sensation of being buried, one of Quinn's least favorite sensations, would only serve to make him anxious. Suddenly he felt a tennis racket connect with his face, hard. He flew off of the platform, and past the cybernetic wall. He'd lost a stock but tried to put that out of his mind as the healing field on the transporter healed him. He had to even the odds. Immediately jumping off the platform, he began to smack Matt with light punches and kicks. A Smasher couldn't see their opponent's damage unless the arena had a jumbotron, but even so, there were signs, like flashing red, and having steam, a byproduct of what was deemed "Rage mode". Matt, much to Quinn's enjoyment, was exhibiting all these signs. Suddenly, a flash erupted, and a Smash Ball appeared, plopping to the ground behind Quinn. Reeling back, Matt clocked Quinn as hard as he could in the jaw. Quinn let the force of the blow take him into the air, performing a backflip landing behind the Smash Ball, Quinn caught a look of Matt's eyes. They were expressionless voids, Matt, usually stoic, was growling like a wounded animal, punching at the Smash Ball, demanding it, "Break, you piece of trash"

Meanwhile, Quinn struck an unusual fighting stance, standing on one foot while his right foot was reared back. The longer it stayed reared, the more Quinn's poised foot glowed like an ember.

"EXPLODING KICK!" Quinn screamed

His foot snapped forward, nailing Matt in the forehead, sending him past the wall, and forfeiting him a stock. Quinn paused briefly to wipe his brow and smirk. The game was even.

Just as Matt reappeared, stepping off the recovery platform, a Hothead appeared at his feet. The Wii Sports legend picked up the sun-like object and spiked it down, leaving it to rotate around the platform. Just as he did, a Steel Diver landed at Quinn's feet. Without hesitation, Quinn picked out the rocket launcher modeled like a toy submarine and fired. Three missiles, each one hung in the air for a split second before zooming to collide with Matt. Unfortunately for Quinn, each collided with the Hothead as well, ballooning it to an enormous side. Matt plopped to a sitting position, sitting cross-legged with a sinister smile on his face, "Whatcha gonna do, come get some?" roared Matt over the Wuhu winds.

Quinn used his foot to break the barely together Smash Ball, allowing himself to absorb the aura before leaping into the air again, getting a point-blank shot with the Steel Diver, while simultaneously getting hit with the Hothead. Both men flew into the air, in opposite directions, each managing to avoid the dreaded cybernetic wall and jump in midair back to platform land on the platform. On yet another rotation, the enormous Hothead collided with the Smash Ball. It broke apart, its innards flying into Matt, giving him the power of the Smash Ball. Both men ran towards each other on the main platform, but Quinn was quicker on the draw, sliding to grab Matt for another suplex. After shouting the move name once again, Quinn drove Matt into the top platform. The impact from the Suplex and Quinn colliding with the Hothead sent both men off stage, nullifying the presence of the Smash Ball as well. The game was even, one to one. The next fall decided it.

Both men jumped down from the platforms, and once the invincibility aura wore off, the two went punch for punch like boxers. Quinn had seen Matt box in the days of Wii Sports and had seen many Miis bent into gruesome positions just from his punches, but somehow Quinn was still standing. He had to stand, he thought. He had to win.

Suddenly, two items appeared out of thin air, another Steel Diver, and a Timer. Both competitors noticed, casting a glance at the weapons, then at each other making a simultaneous leap for the cache of weapons. Quinn caught the Timer first, as Matt slowed to a surreal speed, as the tropical paradise gave way to a purple-on-black vortex while Matt slowly floated through the air. In a flash, Quinn fired all ten shots of the Steel Diver, each rocket connecting with a prone Matt. A Pokeball materialized out of the air above Matt, who caught it. With a scream, Matt tossed it to Quinn, who caught it like an outfielder would catch a fly ball in baseball. He spiked it on the ground. With a triumphant "Hee-yah" a Staryu whizzed out, locking on to Matt, who had jumped in the air to avoid the onslaught. However, it was for naught, shooting stars out of its center, its trademark Swift attack. Quinn smirked, he saw his chance. Quinn stood nearly nose-to-nose, with Matt, rearing back his foot. Matt screamed obscenities in vain as the final blow was delivered.

"EXPLODING KICK!"

" **GAME!"**

The platform on which Quinn stood, which was just seconds ago sailing through the Wuhu skies, suddenly found itself center stage at Wuhu Stadium.

"QUINN WINS! YOU SAW IT HERE FOLKS! HE WILL REPRESENT THE MII BRAWLER SCHOOL IN THE NEXT TOURNAMENT!"

What Quinn heard next baffled him. He heard the normal squealing of girls, a few male cheers, more than before the fight. Also, he heard an undercurrent of booing. He didn't have time to process this for long however, as before he knew it, Hart was standing in front of him. The adulation of the crowd became hushed when Hart removed his sunglasses, revealing a bandage over his left eye. He placed the comedically oversized sunglasses on Quinn, raising his hand in victory to a more unified cheer of congratulations from the crowd.

"Matt got cocky today. Don't let these schlubs shrieking bother ya. You earned this bro!" Hart whispered into Quinn's ear, before departing for the back.

Quinn barely got to celebrate before the PA announcer spoke again, "Ladies and gentlemen, now that the Brawler School representative has been determined, we would like to turn it over to our special guest. Please welcome the commissioner of the Turf War League of Inkopolis, JUDD!"

From the back, a rotund bipedal cat man ambled out, grumbling something about a "newfangled machine" as his headset hummed to life, "Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pride I introduce to y'all the finest athlete in Turfwar, Torri Gachi!"

With a massive "Woomi!" a purple squid burst through the doors onto the arena floor, purple ink trailing behind her. The squid splashed into the middle of the arena floor, forming a small pink puddle. What emerged was a purple tentacled woman wearing what essentially amounted to a schoolgirl uniform, sweater, jacket, pink plaid skirt, high socks, and nice dress shoes. The crowd erupted into a ferocious cheer. Quinn shouldn't have expected any less, as he was dealing with the Inkopolis equivalent of a pop idol, but nonetheless, he found himself intimidated as the two met in center ring. The referee slipped Quinn a Healing Sprout, which he gladly bit into. While simply holding it was the preferred way to use a Healing Sprout, biting into it, if one could get passed the extremely bitter taste, would heal all ailments. Quinn was barely listening as he caught wind of Torri's toothy smile. The instructions were the same as the last time, 3 stocks, items on medium. Quinn briefly considered taking it easy this fight, as he'd already punched his ticket for Smash Bros. That thought immediately left him however as he remembered the boos from earlier. He hadn't had time to analyze why he had been booed, but another win would prove at least some of the haters wrong, right?

" **3, 2, 1 GO!"** screamed the familiar announcer

Immediately, Torri opened fire, and before he could register what was going on, Quinn found himself covered in purple ink! The ink was an odd sensation, the most minimal hum of equal parts acid and being burned alive he had ever experienced. Instinctively, Quinn leaped backward, only to find that an odd, alien projectile was rolling towards him, and it splattered more ink onto him, which hurt significantly more

 _Is that her game?_ Quinn wondered _stacking ink on so her attach do more damaged_

Quinn's new sunglasses were smudged with the ink, so he braced himself for another attack, but nothing came, only a stunned gasp from the crowd. Slowly, Quinn removed his sunglasses to learn that the sky had darkened almost completely. The only source of light was in the sky, only a few feet up from the stage, a burning, all too familiar symbol, the Smash Bros logo. He cast a glance at Torri, who appeared similarly dumbstruck. Beyond the faintest sound of a woman humming a wordless tune, from out of the fiery logo, he saw the silhouettes of Mario, Link, and a few others.

"Apologies Hart, Judd, but we must begin these two's initiation immediately" came the stern voice of Link.

With that, a staircase of fire erupted from the logo, cascading down from the logo to the stage. Wordlessly, the two walked up the stairs. As the walked through the portal together it closed behind them, bringing the sky back to its normal crystal blue.

"Bro…" gawked Hart, from the back

"Grrr, I took an intern-dimensional flight for that?" growled Judd, "Coulda just stayed home and slept. Dagnab Smashers" cursed the seemingly immortal cat as he waddled away, muttering to himself.

 **The Smash Mansion**

Quinn had heard Hart talk about this place in the seminars he'd seen his headmaster speak at, but he had never dreamed it could be so elegant. Torri, for her part, seemed in equal awe. As his gaze snapped to the middle of the foyer, he saw a fair-skinned brunette woman he recognized as Leaf, and a gun sword-wielding man Saki, both of whom Quinn recognized from the last tournament. Two people he didn't recognize, a white robbed man and a skeleton in houseware were deep amid a discussion with Mario and Peach.

Mario caught a glimpse of the two over the skeleton man's shoulder, "Sans, Altaïr, hold on just a minute, our new guests have arrived. Quinn-a Marmaduke, and Torri Gaichi, welcome to-a Smash Brothers. You'll get a briefed relatively soon, but I'd like you to take a few days to get settled. The only thing that's super important right-a now, at least to you, are these," Mario paused, pulling out two red wristwatches, "These are your communicators. You'll-a be privy to private messaging, group chats, and mansion wide announcements, as well as as-a the translator.

Almost simultaneously, Quinn and Torri put on their wristwatches. Torri was in the middle of saying something when the language calibrated

"He can understand me after this?' inquired Torri.

"Yep! I can understand you just fine!"

Torri's eyes went wide in amazement, "WOAH! That's fresh as all get-out. Being able to speak human'll get me a ton of social media cred for sure!"

Mario chuckled, his mustache pulled in such a way that it was plain to see that he was grinning underneath it, "If that's-a how you wish to utilize this technology, go for it! You'll be rooming with Green. I'll take you to your room, and we'll make sure everyone's a close made it in the transition

"WOOMIE, TORRI'S GOT A ROOMIE!" cheered the Inkling girl as she bounded off, leaving Green to amusedly follow behind.

"Saki, you'll be rooming with one of the people yet to arrive, so I 'll lead you to your room in a moment'

Saki simply nodded, ambling off to take a seat in one of the big chairs that dotted the foyer

"Now, as for you three," began Peach, "As Mario and I were discussing before Quinn came in, we had the Miis rooming together the last tournament, and due to a logistics error we've kept that arrangement for the three of you. So, Quinn Marmaduke, meet Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad and Sans the Skeleton, your new roommates"

"As long as you aren't degenerate like that lazy skeleton, perhaps we will get along," Altaïr growled

"With that in mind let me show you to your room."

Quinn was busy taking everything in as they walked, just taking in the sheer regality of the mansion, as well as the artwork that seemed to line every wall, featuring pictures of all the participants' home universe. They eventually got to their room, the size of a three-bed hotel room on Wuhu, each person having their own bedroom, having a communal space. Peach bid them a fairly quick goodbye, as Altaïr and Sans were in the middle of a relatively one-sided conversation about hamburger toppings, the latter visibly annoying the former. Quinn wordlessly shut the door, flopping onto bed, and falling asleep.

(AN: Smashbrosodyssey here, just jumping into saying that that concludes the origins chapters that feature the traditional cast. As Mario eluded a chapter back, the roster will round out at 100 characters, so the next chapter will be my 20 wishlist characters! Now, assuming there's a DLC character at some point down the line you want to see, worry not, they'll be featured in the next arc. I know you're probably all sick to death of Origins chapters, but I can assure you they'll all be done and over with before you can even blink, and then we can actually move along to the tournament arc!)

.


	19. Origins: Porky

**Origins: Porky Minch**

 **Group Chat: Admin Team  
12:00 AM**

 **Shulk: Is anyone else still up?**

 **Mario: I was just about to turn in, why? Dark Samus causing issues again?  
**

 **Shulk: Actually no, Found out the less time I spent trying to corral it the more docile a roommate it was  
**

 **Sans: Order Grillby's online**

 **Sans: Wait this isn't the UnderNet. Had it open in another tab.**

 **Shulk: ?  
**

 **Mario: ?**

 **Sans: That's the internet in the underground, where I'm from.**

 **Shulk: How do you have access to it here?  
**

 **Sans: Secret  
**

 **Shulk: FFS  
**

 **Mario: Anyway, Shulk, what did you want?**

 **Shulk: Got a bunch of requests to open the training rooms, early morning. Just letting everyone know we've got an early shift tomorrow.**

 **Sans: Hey Marth can you cover my shift?**

 **Mario: For the third time Sans, this isn't shiftwork.**

 **ROB: Shall I inform Otis that Sans' femur is now permitted to be used as a chew toy?**

 **Sans: OK OK, I was just kidding geez.**

 **Mario: Thanks for the heads up Shulk. Might be a little bit late, haven't been sleeping well, need to get back on a decent schedule. Marth, you're in charge until I get there  
**

 **Marth: Cool.**

 **ROB: Cool cool cool**

 **Sans: HAH! It worked**

 **Marth: What worked?  
**

 **Shulk: The fewer questions you ask about Sans' nonsense the better Marth  
**

 **Marth: Duly noted.**

 **(You are reading the most recent message)**

True to what he had said, Mario didn't awake until late morning. Like he had admitted to the Smashers in his impromptu speech two nights ago, being the head of the Smash Brothers was running him ragged. As a result, he was delegating some of his responsibility and practicing self-care. He had to admit, it had turned out to be an excellent decision. Sleeping in and leisurely breakfasts with Peach were just two of the many reasons why. All the same though, Mario had to get to work. With a spring in his step, Mario headed down to the Core Machine room, absentmindedly singing a song that had been written in his honor after Bowser's first defeat

"Swing your arms from side to side, come on it's time to go, do the Mario!"

Mario smirked, catching his idiocy. Was it narcissistic to sing a song about himself? The plumber would be the first to admit that it probably was, but Seven Stars be damned if it wasn't a catchy tune.

Mario opened the doors to the Core Machine Room to see the rest of the administration team hunched over an enormous bank of monitors. The monitor bank was approximately 128 screens high, accounting for the 108 stages belonging to characters who had already arrived, and the 22 that were left to be generated by Guardian Alloy for those yet to arrive, as well as Sans and Altair's stages. At the bottom of the monitor bank, at eye level, was a normal looking computer screen, which could flip to any one of the screens for the administration to observe.

Mario spoke up, as it appeared the team was too busy watching the screens to notice his arrival, "So, what's going on guys?"

Marth whipped around to face Mario, a grin on his face. Otis and Mikey also whipped around in response to Mario, barking, and quacking respectively. Sans gave a dismissive handwave along with his signature "sup".

"Quite a bit actually," Marth began, "Edelgard and the Links are training together, they're trying to help her get used to wielding multiple weapons"

Mario frowned, "I appreciate their enthusiasm, but Edelgard is too fresh, and I think we've burnt out the Links recently. They're out of contention"

Marth blinked for a second, not expecting immediate negativity from his boss, "Okay. Greninja and Snake are training, they have been since we opened operations today. The same could be said for Joker and Cloud."

"ROB, make a note that those four will be tapped for recruitment later."

"Affirmative," said ROB

" As we speak, Roy, Ken, Captain Falcon, Diddy, and Donkey Kong are teaming up against Banjo, King K. Rool, Chrom, Olimar Corrin and Terry in that new five-on-five tag mode The King of Fighters inspired you to implement."

Mario smiled wide, "Ah! What do you think of it?"

"I think it would be a hoot to do exhibitions for, perhaps on the final night of the tournament?"

"Great idea! ROB, add that to the notes"

"Affirmative"

"Bowser's contingent, him, Junior and the potted plant fought Luigi, Daisy, and Wario in the three on three version earlier, which would've been equally as fun…"

"Would've been?" Mario asked

The Altean prince snickered uncharacteristically, "The way it was explained to me was that your brother and Daisy needed a third person, so they dragged Wario out of bed. He whined about it being too early in the morning and SDed his stock."

Mario laughed, "That's what Weegee gets for thinking Wario of all people would be a good tag team partner. How's the plant?"

"An absolute lethal weapon." remarked Sans, "He's got poison powers, can spin his leaves like a helicopter for recovery, and he can shoot spikey balls. Not to mention, he has heckin' big chompers."

A loud smack was heard as Shulk had faceplanted onto the deck he was sitting at, "For the love of Bionis…" he moaned

Mario raised an eyebrow, "Heckin' big…"

Sans chuckled, "UnderNet lingo man, you gotta get with it."

"WOAH! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT?" squawked Mikey, "PATCH IT TO THE BANJO TAG!"

The main monitor displayed the final seconds of the aforementioned 5-on-5 tag battle, in which a golden aura had emitted from Kazooie's wings, the pair had run forward, directly into a Falcon Punch, which seemed to have no effect as bear and bird bulldozed through the Captain, ending the match.

Mario's eyes were wide, "Did-a he just…tank a Falcon Punch? _O mio_ , I think he might be the one."

With that, the leader of the Smash Brothers pivoted on his heel, heading towards the exit of the Core Machine Room.

"Wait," shouted Marth, "There are still several training sessions going on that require..."

"Send me the videos when you have the time, I've got to put together the team for our next fighter."

As he left doors behind him, Mario spoke into his communicator, "Buzz for Ness and Lucas please, tell them they're required in the conference room."

 **Conference Room**

Mario sat in the conference room, elbows on the table, hands clasped in nervous anticipation. He hadn't been waiting long when the door to the room opened, Lucas followed first, a deep frown etched on his face, followed by Ness, who, while bearing no readable expression, seemed equally as somber as he shuffled slowly into the room.

"We know what this is" Lucas began, "You want us to try and recruit… _him_ don't you?"

Mario sighed, "Look-a, I wouldn't do it if it wasn't absolutely necessary. This is an arms race, and we need to tie up all the assets Conker hasn't."

"What about Rayquaza?" Ness said

"A trainer in Hoenn caught him, he's a non-threat. The Tabuu created villains are presumed dead, and we have Petey's Piranha's seedling. Porky Minch is the only free agent, and I need your help to get him."

"You know he won't fit in here right?"

"Oh, I know. That's-a why I'm rooming him with Wario. Hopefully, they can get their bull-a crap out when they spend time amongst each other."

Ness nodded, "Okay, that's a good plan, but we'd have to fight Giygas to find him."

"Trust me," said Mario, "I plan on avoiding that situation entirely"

Lucas' eyes went wide, "That would mean recruiting him in my timeline, but he's in the Absolutely Safe Capsule. Nothing known to us will break him out."

"Nothing known to you" said Mario with a smirk, "I have just the plan to deal with that."

 **Hours later**

"Banjo Kazooie and Mewtwo to the Portal Room. I repeat, Banjo-Kazooie and Mewtwo to the Portal Room."

"HA! I told you we were stars! We were in one training session all day and BAM, they want us for something!" squawked Kazooie,

"Yeah, but with Mewtwo?" asked Banjo, as he walked to the Portal Room with Kazooie in his backpack, "Seems like something out of our wheelhouse if we're teaming up with him."

"Whaddya mean, ya lazy ball of fluff? We're Banjo-Kazooie darn it, nothing is…"

Mid rant, Banjo stepped through the sliding door to the Portal Room What appeared to be a purple cryogenic coffin on spider legs stood in the room, as soon as they entered. Mewtwo was slumped lazily against a wall, his arms crossed, while Mario, Ness, and Lucas conversed amongst themselves in the corner.

"Out….of…our..wheelhouse." stuttered Kazooie as she eyed the mechanical monstrosity in front of her.

"What'n the name of Jiggywiggy have you got us signed up for Mario?"

The three near the portals' gazes all snapped towards the duo, "Simply put, we need you to Wonder Wing a capsule until it pops open."

"I can do that, but what're the kids and the test tube baby over there for?" Kazooie asked, pointing her head towards Mewtwo

"Kazooie! No need to be rude!" Banjo scolded

"We need his psychic powers to put what comes out of the capsule," Mario began, gesturing to the robot, "Into there."

"And as far as what pops out, he's what you might call Ness and I's villain." Lucas explained

"I see," said Banjo

"ROB set the portal to the agreed-upon coordinates, now, Mewtwo, we need you to move this through-a the portal."

"Affirmative" came the voice of ROB through a loudspeaker in the room as the portal opened before them.

 **Doctor Andonuts' Lab**

It was a pleasant, warm day as was the usual in Tazmily village, where Doctor Andonuts had set up his lab. With the capitalistic structure of the Porky Empire in a freefall since the deposition of its leader from whom the empire got its name, Andonuts moved to the remote Tazmily to continue scientific work, mostly to restore the natural world that the Empire had ravaged away. On this day like any other, sat at his desk, noting the growth rate of a plant that had been exposed to a special formula, which, if it worked correctly, would be used in reforestation efforts

Suddenly, one of the doctor's instruments began to beep. Andonuts used the office chair with wheels upon which he sat to investigate the instrument. The old doctor's heart skipped a beat. It was the temporal disturbance detector, Someone was traveling through time and space to the present. Fearing it could be another Porky threat, Andonuts scooted back to his desk, turning on his desktop computer, and hastily typing in a command. On the screen flared to life a radar readout of the surrounding area. Overlaid with over the center point of the radar was a blue dot, pinging with increasing ferocity, as well as the initial instrument blaring with a similarly worrying ferocity. Before Andonuts could register the implications of this, that whatever was traveling through time was right on top of him, a portal opened on the opposite wall. When the blinding light dissipated, Andonuts was momentarily knocked daft by what he saw.

"Lucas? Ness? Oh my goodness boy, it's been millennia since I've seen y-" he paused when he saw the others in the room. He didn't know the bear, the bird, or the alien, but he knew the mech robot,

"Doctor Andonuts, I wish I could stay for a chat, but we need…", Ness intentionally trailed off, pointing towards The Absolutely Safe Capsule, which was standing in the corner of the room.

"I would question your judgment, but perhaps I'm better off not knowing" grumbled Andonuts

"I'm Banjo, and these are my pals Kazooie and Mewtwo. With all due respect, we need a place where we can get a runnin' start on that thing."

The old doctor sighed, "Alright, we can move this out into the parking lot."

Soon, the group was standing in the parking lot, The Absolutely Safe Capsule over by itself, while the rest of the group was a few feet away watching, "Now, before you two get started," said Doctor Andonuts to Banjo and Kazooie, "You should know that this was designed specifically to be unbreakable."

Kazooie blew a raspberry, "There isn't anything my Wonderwing can't break! Banjo, you ready?"

"You betcha pal."

Mario cleared his throat, "How many of these golden feathers do you have?" he asked

"I can only carry ten at a time, but Banjo and I have been training ever since the car thing, so we can run more on one than we ever could before."

"Okay, so we have ten attempts to make this work. Whenever you're ready-a guys."

Kazooie put her wings down out in front of her, while Banjo ran forward, a golden hue erupted from her wings as the duo collided with the Capsule.

Kazooie let out a squawk of pain before exclaiming, "Jinjo on a cracker that hurt!"

Mario raised an eyebrow, "Does it not normally?"

"Nah, but if you're relying on us to get the job done, I'm gonna have to put up with it."

Mario nodded, "Okay, whenever you're ready."

Another Wonderwing. Than another. On the fourth, Andonuts noticed a crack in the capsule.

"My word…" gasped Andonuts

"Alright, Mewtwo, be ready," ordered Mario

Mewtwo nodded.

Meanwhile, Kazooie was having a rare moment of self-doubt, "Banjo…my wings are freakin' mush, I don't know that I could do it again."

"Just pretend the Capsule is Bottles."

An impish smile tugged at Kazooie's beak, "Now you're speaking my language Banjo" she mused with an evil chuckle

"Go!" Mario commanded, "One more time!"

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR MAKER GEEKY!" Kazooie shouted as Banjo took off towards the capsule again, "HI-YAH!"

Colliding with the Absolutely Safe Capsule again with so much force that the duo barreled over it, rolling onto the ground a few inches away. But, the deed was done, as the front of the capsule broke away from the rest of it.

"Mewtwo now!" said Mario

Using his psychic power, Mewtwo picked up the chubby gray-haired boy as he gasped for air, plopping him into the robot, and closing the latch, As he did, the boy stopped squirming, and the internals flared to life,

"Eheehee, now we're back in business! Ness, Lucas, I've waited years to say this, eat crap!" crowed Porky

From one of the pockets of his overalls, Mario pulled what would appear to be a detonator out of it, flipping open the top, "Before you do go acting foolish, let me explain your circumstances, I'm Mario. We never met, but I was on the other side of the Subspace War. Tabuu's back at it again, and The Super Smash Brothers would like you to implore you to work for us."

"Tabuu offered me a pretty sweet deal old man. Thanks, but no thanks" sneered Minch

Mario smirked, "Ah, I figured as much. That's-a what this baby is for." Mario stated, running his hand over the base of the detonator, "The mech you're in, while a carbon copy of your old one, has a new feature. It's effectively a working Subspace Bomb. If you act against my orders at any-a point, nothing in this-a universe or any other could bring you back. If you follow the rules, you'll have access to all the rights and privileges the other Smashers do. Am I clear?"

Porky grumbled, "I suppose. But what if I don't want to be in your stupid little tournament?"

Mario shrugged, "That's your right I suppose, but then again, there's no chance you'll get to go one on one with Ness and Lucas if they advanced."

Porky smirked, "I gotta beat Ness an' Lucas, I gotta!" the boy whined

"Then fight your best and respect your elders. Come, we have much to discuss." Mario explained as he typed in the code in his communicator to make a portal to the mansion appear. Ness, Lucas, Mewtwo, Mario, and Porky stepped through it, with Kazooie carrying Banjo as the ran to jump through.

When they appeared in the grand foyer Wario was waiting for them, "When the psychic shrimps-a left through a portal, I knew it had to be you! Porky you beautiful son of a gun! How ya been?"

"Me, I've been absolutely safe!" howled Porky with laughter, "What about you generalismo!"

"Oh you know me! Money, beautiful women, and more money! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA"  
"AHAHAHAHA" howled Porky once again,

"WAHAHAHAHA"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"  
"WAHHHHHHAHAHAHAHA! C'mon kid I'll show ya to our room!" chortled Wario

"Our room! You mean we're gonna be roommates? This is gonna be an absolute delight. See you, nerds, later"

"Arceus help us all." groaned Mewtwo as soon as the two villains were out of earshot

Suddenly, Lucas' eyes widened, "Wait a minute, didn't you say Porky's mech was essentially a Subspace Bomb?"

"Yeah, I did," Mario said matter-of-factly

"What if we have to…you know." Lucas asked with a gulp

"Oh I wouldn't worry about dat-a too much. ROB's been studying how to close Subspace portals manually, and we built the mech once we had a breakthrough."

"O-okay"

"Relax Lucas, it's Mario, don'tcha think he has a plan?" interjected Ness.

"Well yeah, but what if Porky has a plan?"

"We'll cross that bridge when-a we come to it Lucas, don't worry" Mario explained, before raising his wrist communicator to talk into it, "ROB, have Doctor Mario prep an examination for Kazooie, we might have a wing injury on our hands."

"Affirmative" came the voice of ROB

"You don't know the half of it." moaned Kazooie, "C'mon big guy," she said, patting Banjo on the head as they left for the medical bay

There was a moment of silence with the remaining four Smashers before Mario broke it, "You all did good. You're dismissed."

"Great! Hey, Lucas, I think it's taco night in the cafeteria!" Ness cheered

"O-okay." Lucas stuttered as the two boys left

Mewtwo teleported away, leaving Mario with his thoughts. What if Porky did have a plan?

 _No, Mario, you can't be questioning your judgment or you might-a not be able to think quickly in the heat of the moment_

Mario breathed a sigh of relief, before heading off to get changed for dinner.

(AN: I hope you enjoy my 20 picks so the roster rounds out at a nice cool 100. Next is Goro Akechi, thanks for reading!)


	20. Origins: Goro Akechi

Origins: Goro Akechi

 **Smash Mansion, Morning**

Ren and Ann were always the early risers of The Phantom Thieves. Yusuke would often stay up late into the night sketching something, whereas Ryuji and Futaba were most likely to play video games until the wee hours of the morning. Morgana, being part cat, was perfectly content being an idle layabout if the circumstances warranted. Even Makoto and Haru, who most of the time were wide awake with The Lover and The Trickster, could fall into the pattern of typical teenage laziness when there wasn't studying or botany to be done respectively. But this was all the better for the couple because it gave them the opportunity for an excursion to explore the Mansion. First stopping to have a quick breakfast with Ike and Pichu, during which they quietly made small talk, discussing the newcomer Porky Minch, and how obnoxious he and Wario would be as a combined force. Quickly bidding the strong silent mercenary and his sleepy rat companion adieu, Ren and Ann headed down to Smash Park, a small, enclosed walking trail that was the rest area in the Melee tournament's All-Star gauntlet training simulation but now used for the Smashers who wished for quiet time away. Ann and Ren took their seats on a bench a few yards away from the fountain that was one of the hallmarks of the park. Ren watched with fascination as The Wii Fit Trainer, as she was known, and Lucario did yoga together, waxing muted philosophical about 'chi' and 'aura'.

That's when Joker notice Ann nuzzle herself into his arm. Ann had been especially affectionate this morning, but there had been a lot of starting and stopping going on, where she would begin to snuggle in close but pull away. Perhaps roaming the halls of the mansion wasn't the best setting, or maybe she felt uncomfortable with too much PDA in front of their breakfast companions…

Joker kissed Ann delicately on the forehead, who sighed dreamily closing her eyes. Joker couldn't help but mirror her sigh. It was a beautiful spring morning, and they likely had an hour, if not several, before any of their colleagues came looking for them.

"DUUUUDE! DUUUDE!" Ren heard a familiar voice cry from far away.

Running down the sidewalk, that lead to Smash Park, in his pajamas no less, was Ryuji. It was when Ryuji came into view that he was barefoot, and clad in the shorts and tank top he had slept in.

"Dude, for real?" Ann said, rolling her eyes, "You couldn't even bother to put on shoes. Now you're going to track mud all over the..."

"Ann, Ren, you don't understand. I just got a ping from Mario. Akechi's alive!"

The news caught Ren so harshly off guard he inhaled too quickly, choking on the saliva that had once rested in his mouth, while Ann squealed, "WHAT? HOW?" catching the attention of the Wii Fit Trainer and Lucario.

"Grrr, what's all the racket?" growled Lucario

"W-we just found out a friend of ours is alive when we thought he was dead before, and we have to go recruit him into Smash Bros in an hour. Sorry for interrupting you guys," explained Ryuji

Wii Fit Trainer shrugged, "Think nothing of it. And remember, in a labor-intensive activity it's always important to practice deep, mindful breathing."

"Got it, Ms. Trainer." Ren said with a nod, "Well guys. I think there's somewhere we have to be."

 **1 hour later**

"I'm sorry Makoto, but…run that theory by me again?" asked a sleepy Yusuke as The Phantom Thieves of Heart, in full gear, took the final stretch of their journey to the Portal Room.

"It's something I've kept in the back of my mind ever since Shido's palace," began Makoto, "There was the cognitive Akechi, the Shido-created one, and our Akechi. There were two gunshots, but we couldn't confirm either of them were self-inflicted by our Goro."

"Do you think Akechi could've turned off his signal willingly somehow?" asked Futaba

"That's exactly what I thought Futaba! We always knew Akechi was powerful, I don't think anything like that is out of the realm of possibility."

Yusuke chuckled, "Hmmm, of course, it stands to reason that if we could find ourselves in the realm of Phantom Thievery once again, Akechi could also rise like a phoenix."

Ann smiled at the blue-haired artist, "Ya know when you put it that way, this whole thing seems less…crazy."

"What is crazy at this point though right? Ren shot God in the face on Christmas Eve for cryin' out loud," exclaimed Ryuji

Joker couldn't help but grin like a Cheshire cat at that, to which Ann rolled her eyes, "You never get tired of hearing that do you baby?" she said as they rounded the final corner.

"No, because it sounds completely absurd, even having done it."

"Man, if we licensed out the Phantom Thieves story out as an anime, it wouldn't look nearly as wacky as what actually happened" remarked Futaba

"Oh, do you think La Blanc would become a themed anime cafe then, if only for a while?" Haru asked

Futaba snorted very loudly with laughter, while Ren smiled even more broadly

"Oh, man! Getting Dad to do anything anime related is…"

"Guys! We're about to enter the Portal Room!" snapped Morgana, "Professional faces on!"

The group quieted as they went through the doors of the Portal Room, where ROB was standing to greet them, "Recruit name, Goro Akechi. Recruit location, Big River, Montana. Smashers handling the recruitment are The Phantom Thieves of Heart."

"Excuse me…erm…ROB, do you know why Akechi ended up there?" Morgana piped in

"I have been informed that Akechi's current place of employment, Mary's Inn, was named one of the best producers of pancakes in your United States of America."

"THAT SON OF A-!" Ryuji shouted, but Makoto held up a hand, all while stifling her laughter

"Of course, he would give police a big visible hunch like that, and then dissolve his paper trail so no one could ever find him," Makoto said

"Even if he did con the public on the mental shutdown, he never missed a trick," Ren added

"ROB, does he know about our powers?" Haru asked

"Negative" droned the robot, "This would be logically impossible as well, as he has only been there for a few months, so it is doubtful he could've discovered the Metaverse reincarnation."

"Alright guys," Ren began, " We need to be extremely careful about how we approach this. Things could really go bad if he discovers he can use his powers outside of Momentos. That said, I believe in all of you to do your best. ROB, fire up the portal!"

"Affirmative. Something you also should know, if Akechi joins us, we can help him get the criminal charges against him."

"Woah, for real?" shouted Ryuji, "Which one of you is a lawyer?"

"Isabelle!" Haru answered

"What? The dog's a lawyer? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"She has several other degrees of study as well. It's really quite fascinating," said Haru

"It sounds like she and Makoto would get along quite well," Yusuke responded as Makoto rolled her eyes

"Guys focus! Going through the portal all together now, in three, two one!" commanded Joker

With this, all the Thieves jumped through the portal.

 **Big River, Montana, Sunday morning**

 _Some people say a man is made outta mud_ _  
_ _A poor man's made outta muscle and blood_ _  
_ _Muscle and blood and skin and bones_ _  
_ _A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong_

Goro Akechi bit his lip as he bussed tables at the old restaurant he called his job. Mary's Inn was modeled on the inside to look like a log cabin, which gave the illusion of a warm, family environment. Of course, that was unless you were a lowly busboy who hated American country songs from the 1950s, as Akechi had come to. He hadn't minded any type of music in particular before this part of his life., but hearing songs like this one on a fairly limited playlist was grating at him. Every day since he'd began working at Mary's he cursed the day he'd decided to use the money he'd siphoned from Shido to move here of all places.

 _You load sixteen tons, what do you get_ _  
_ _Another day older and deeper in debt_ _  
_ _Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go_ _  
_ _I owe my soul to the company store_

 _No,_ thought Akechi, _I will not sell my soul to this rotten place_

"Hey, whatcha thinkin' about Goro?" asked a voice

Akechi looked up from the table he was wiping down with a smile. It was Magdalene, or Maggie, as she preferred to be called. The blond, buxom, 18-year-old granddaughter of the owner and chef, Benjamin, looked like something out of a wartime American propaganda film, and had taken him under her wing, while the rest of the town gave him sideways looks on account of the fact that he was Japanese.

"Oh. Just thinking is all," said Goro

"Well don't be thinking too much! Sunday service just ended at the church, and we've got a stampede of hungry customers coming our way!" warned Maggie

As if on cue, the doors opened, as the town's denizens flocked in for an after-church breakfast. At the front of the door was a musclebound, completely bald man wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and boots, "Hey! JAP!" screamed the man, pointing at Goro.

"Oh no…" groaned Akechi

" Bradley, it's too early to start this crap." shouted Maggie, "Now sit down an' behave!"

"I'll behave if the Jap boy shines mah, boots," growled Bradley, taking a seat at the table

"Bradley, stop!"

"HEY!" shouted a booming voice from the back. Akechi winced, realizing that Benjamin, the positively enormous, ancient man, had abandoned his post at the stove and was starting over there his grease stained apron clinging to his hairy frame, his bald head turning an unhealthy shade of red, "You startin' shit kid?" he snarled at Goro

"No, Grandpappy he…" began Maggie

"Why do you stick up for that boy woman?" demanded Bradley, "You stuck with me after high school, you coulda inherited my daddy's land but ya had to go an' be a crazy…"

"Don't speak to her that way." warned Akechi, "The reason why she left you is that you treated her poorly. I can deduce that simply on how you speak to people."

"What was that Jap?" snarled Bradley, standing up and grabbing Goro by the uniform

"Bradley, stop!" pleaded Maggie,

"No honey, if we don't let Brad do what he wants his daddy will just sue us. I can't let him take your Grammy Mary's pride 'an joy away. If yer gonna beat him up Brad jus' take him out back." explained Benjamin, shuffling back to the kitchen.

As if on cue, the Phantom Thieves entered the restaurant, "Put him down, now! We have business with him." Ren commanded

"Amamiya-san… Wait, your clothes.'

Akechi concentrated hard, as he did when they summoned their Persona and saw a spark of blue flame.

"Yes…" hissed Akechi

"What's gotten into you Ja-?"

"LOKI!" screamed Akechi

In a brilliant burst of light, Loki appeared, Akechi's demonic Persona, his body patterned with psychedelic black shapes which moved and pulsated as it stood awaiting its owner's instructions, What's more, Akechi was in his black Metaverse attire, a wicked smile on his face

 _If you see me comin', better step aside_ _  
_ _A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died_ _  
_ _One fist of iron, the other of steel_ _  
_ _If the right one don't a-get you_ _  
_ _Then the left one will_

Akechi punched Bradley square in the stomach. With a violent, retching cough, the air left Bradley's body. Akechi shoved him so he was splayed out on the table, and began to pummel his face with lefts and rights. On the third punch, Akechi felt the blood splatter onto his face. With maniacal laughter, he fired more punches, faster, stronger

"GORO WHAT THE HELL! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?" cried Maggie

"Jesus Christ…" Makoto gasped, a hand clasped to her mouth

Akechi looked down at the damage. His face looked almost liquified, with several very important bone structures beaten down into a pulp. Most horrifying was his nose, which didn't appear to exist structurally, only a spout for the now fast forming pool of blood

"AKECHI-SAN! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" screamed Ren

Akechi nodded, not even turning back to look at the horrified customers as he and the Phantom Thieves fled out to the parking lot. Ren wordlessly punched in a combination onto his wrist communicator, which opened a portal to the Smash Mansion, closing the door to Big River, Montana behind them.

"Magdaline…" whispered Akechi, "I ruined everything for that woman…"

"It's okay…I mean it's not but…we can help." Ryuji said in between gasps of breath.

"We?" Akechi asked, his eyebrow-raising, "And where are we anyway?"

"The Smash Mansion," explained Morgana

"Smash? What, like Smash Brothers?"

"Yep!" Ann said, "You're one of us now!"

"I…I don't belong anywhere. You just saw that."

"Nonsense Akechi. We know you're a good man, and if you join us, we'll help you absolve your crimes." Haru said

"If it'll help me turn a new leaf on life, I'll accept it," Akechi said, holding out a hand

"Welcome my friend," said Ren, shaking Akechi's outstretched hand, "Makoto, I saw the rooms list that just came up, and I think he's got the room with Villager, next to Megaman and ROB."

"Okay cool," nodded Makoto, " Goro, let's go"

Goro nodded, as the two-headed up the stairs to the dormitories, there was a moment's silence before Akechi spoke up, "Makoto."

"Yes?"

"I missed you."

Makoto gasped, blushing, "I-I missed you too. S-so, you were in America? You know English?"

Akechi smirked, "Yes. I know several languages."

"Oh! I've always wanted to learn French."

"That's one of them! We'll study the subject over dinner someday."

"Yeah, I'd like that." she said, stopping in front of a door, "This is your room. Your clothes have been moved here already."

"Oh great!" Akechi said with a cheerful nod, "See you later Makoto!" he said, opening the door, stepping in, and closing the door behind her.

Makoto waited to round the corner before announcing to herself "Ugh, what's wrong with me?" as she went to rejoin the Phantom Thieves.

(AN: Song is "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Next one up is Cuphead!)  
 _  
_


	21. Origins: Cuphead

**Origins: Cuphead**

The same afternoon Goro was recruited, Mario and Shulk were in the midst of a heated meeting in the conference room

"Mr. Game and Watch?"

"I mean, he'd definitely something the new recruit is used to, but it might be…too far in that direction, you know. Besides, he's got a bit of unpredictable personality, not the style we need for recruitment."

"Ice Climbers?" Shulk asked

"No. Nana's too harsh, and Popo's too docile. Good for a relationship…not-a so good for a-recruitment."

"But…him? You'd really want him representing the Smash Brothers brand?"

"Look, of the admin team, Marth and I have done our fair shares of recruitments, you and the Duo are pegged for later recruitments, ROB's the only one capable of running this place while somebody's doing a recruitment, so we need him here. So that leaves him."

Shulk sighed, "Alright, you're the boss. You owe me 20 Smash Coins if he messes up."

Mario grinned devilishly, "You're on!"

He pressed a button on his wrist communicator, "Buzz up Sans please."

Immediately, the door to the conference room opened. Sans walked through the door, precariously. balancing at least 30 hot dogs on his head, the first 20 or so impossibly bent to where the slightest provocation would send them spiraling to the floor. As he and his incredibly balanced meat casings completed their trek through the door, the remaining 20 hotdogs snapped into position, as if Sans had tried to pass through the door in a large top hat, and the hat had bent to fit under the door.

"Wow." Shulk breathed; his mouth hung open in shock

"That, dear Shulk, is-a why I'm the boss. Sans, take a seat, and pass us a dog while we're at it."

"Sure man," Sans said,

Sans plucked the first two hot dogs off the bottom, the remaining hot dogs falling perfectly into their place on the stack, balancing perfectly atop Sans' head. He tossed them to the two other Smashers who caught them. Mario took a bite, his eyes widening.

"Woah, these are _delizioso_! Where have you been-a making these?"

"My room. I bought a grill. Then Altair said it was against his religion to eat pork, figured the dude would cut me if I didn't stop, so I just came up here with them."

Shulk opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again.

Mario cleared his throat and slid Sans a dossier across the table. The skeleton's eyes narrowed, perplexed as he viewed the picture inside, "Who's the cuppa milk? He looks like something from an old Human cartoon."

"That's-a Cuphead, from the Inkwell Isle. His moveset is pretty similar to the one you're inheriting, but apparently, it's-a bit more nuanced. Cuphead and his friend Mugman freed the Inkwell Islands from The Devil."

Shulk raised an eyebrow, "Like the Assist Trophy that moves the stage around? That Devil?"

Mario shook his head, "No. Multiple universes, therefore there are different incarnations of the Lord of Darkness."

Shulk smirked, "Ah, right. So we can assume this Cuphead defeated The Devil. Do we know if this Devil is still a threat?"

Again, Mario shook his head, "This is one of the many universes we're going into the next couple of days completely blind. Sans, your power set is best equipped to handle…well, anything. Recruit Cuphead and bring him back."

"You got it, boss," said Sans

"I'm assuming you've got a shortcut to the Portal Room?" Mario asked,

"You know I do!" Sans said with a wink, before standing up and shuffling out of the room, dossier in hand once again managing to get his tower of hot dogs out the door.

Mario chuckled before patting Shulk on the shoulder, "I know he annoys you, but I'm putting you as his point of contact of our end. You've got a critical eye for his goofiness, so make sure he doesn't mess up, or it's 20 Smash Coins out of your pocket. I've gotta set up the next recruitment."

Shulk nodded, "You've got it, Mario!"

Mario nodded, exiting the conference room, as Shulk exited just behind him, sprinting in the opposite direction to The Portal Room

 **The Portal Room**

In the dark quiet of the Portal Room, a certain skeleton was muttering to himself, pacing back and forth

"I'd like to recruit you for the Smash Bros Initiative… no that's not it. The few…the proud… the Smashers…. no, that goes against the rules of an elevator pitch. Nobody out-pizzas The Super Smash Bros…no, again, elevator pitch. Can a sentient cup of milk even be bribed with pizza? Milk is just coagulated cheese, so would that be like serving a Human dried blood? Nah, not the time for this, focus Sans, focus! Oh, I'll know. I'll hit him with a "sup." That always seems to work. But he's from like an ancient cartoon. Would he even understand, 'sup' if I said it? Knowing my luck that's probably slang for some kind of drug."

"Are you quite done yet?" asked an irritated voice over the loudspeaker

Sans jumped, "How long have you been listening?"

Shulk chuckled, "A while. I was waiting for the prime opportunity to make you jump. Now, we're opening the portal to Inkwell. Cuphead and Mugman live with The Elder Kettle, so I'm beaming you right outside his house."

"Got it."

"No funny business Sans."

"Hey, sarcasm isn't funny pal."

"I mean it."

"Fine."

The ringlet that housed the portal flared to life, the unknown energy showcasing a window to the other side, a simple hut with a smokestack piping smoke.

"The portal's all set up Sans, you can through now."

"Dope," said Sans, stepping through the portal.

What hit him first about this new world, besides the colors, was the smell. Sugar? Churros? Sans couldn't peg it, but the smell immediately sent a feeling of warmth over him, a feeling of happiness. Sans knocked on the door lightly. An old man with a tea kettle for a head answered the door, "Why hello there sir, how may I help you?"

"My name's Sans, Sans the Skeleton, I represent something called Super Smash Brothers, and I'd like to talk to Cuphead about it."

The Elder Kettle frowned, grunting disapprovingly, "Well alright, I s'pose it'd be rude to not let you make your pitch," he said, turning towards the innards of the house shouting, "CUPHEAD! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!"

In no time, they were seated around The Elder Kettle's family room table, Cuphead eying Sans up and down, "Are you sure he isn't one of The Devil's minions Elder Kettle?"

"I'm as sure as the day is long son." said the Kettle, "The Devil's men give off an aura, and this fella doesn't have it."

"Actually" interjected Sans, "The organization I'm a part of, the Super Smash Brothers is actually a unity of people put together to take out guys like The Devil, especially when they team up, which is what we think is about to happen. Meantime though, we're having a little tournament to see who's the best of us, and we want you to participate in both."

Cuphead's eyes immediately went wide, "Oh golly! That'd be great! Can I go Elder Kettle? Please? Sparring with Mugman has been so boring to me lately, and I'd like to test my mettle against Sans and his friends."

"Don't you mean…test your kettle?" Sans asked with a wink

Cuphead laughed uproariously, "You tell a good joke Mister Sans. If your friends are half as on the beam as you are, I can't not accept!" Cuphead said

"He has my permission as well," interjected Elder Kettle, "The boy's quite a hero, and will do you good."

"Sweet. Training facilities will be open in a couple days, but for now, we'll just be getting you set up with a room and…"

Bounding from the upstairs came Mugman, Cuphead's blue counterpart, looking quite flustered, "Guys, do you hear that music?"

Now that conversation had stopped, Sans did hear music, was that jazz?

"Oh no, it's King Dice!" Cuphead shrieked

"King who?" asked Sans

"The Devil's right-hand man," quivered Mugman, "What could he want?"

"Chill out guys, I'll take care of it," Sans said, opening the door behind to the front yard

The source of the jazz music appeared to come from a man with a playing die for a head. His face was a smiling one but had creepy, leering eyes. He was dressed in a garish purple suit, impatiently twirling a cane.

"Ya know pal, it ain't nice to intrude in private business. I have a proposal for the residents of this humble abode, and it don't involve you, so scram."

"If you have business with them bud, you have business with me."

King Dice gave an unnerving, drawn-out chuckle at the skeleton's response, "You new around these parts pal?"

"No, but I know enough. I know you're The Devil's favorite lacky."

"I ain't a lacky son, I'm his right hand. An' when ol' hellfire and brimstone skedaddled outta here to serve some schmuck named Conker, he left me in charge. What that drip don't know though, is that I've been siphoning power offa him since those cup crumbs beat him a bit ago. Been lookin' to change the management up here in the near future. So, even though I wasn't someone you wanted to mess with beforehand, you certainly don't now."

`Alright pal, you wanna test your mettle? Fine, prepare to roll snake eyes!"

Sans right eye flashed blue as a building-sized version of his signature weapon, the Gaster Blaster, appeared out of thin air, firing at King Dice. Seemingly without moving a muscle, King Dice slid to the side of the blast. Sans snapped his fingers, and the massive Gaster Blaster split into six regular-sized ones, surrounding King Dice, all spinning in a circle and firing. In a similar vein as before, seemingly aided by magic King Dice managed to avoid all the blasts

"Swell," King Dice cackled as the blasts came to a stop, "We've got a humdinger on our hands eh? Well, two can play at the monster game buddy!"

Behind Sans, a giant glove hand appeared, and appeared to… walk in place. Materializing seemingly from the inertia of the walking hand, a deck of sentient playing cards appeared, surrounding the skeleton. Suddenly, Cuphead kicked open the door to the house, "I'll deal with the deck of duds, you deal with the King"

Sans nodded, flying forward, two floating Gaster Blasters firing rapidly, "GET DUNKED ON SUCKAAAA!" screamed Sans

As the Blasters were firing more rapidly than before, with King Dice dodging each blast, Sans glanced behind him to see Cuphead shooting bullets of some description out of his fingers, all the while doing a flipping jump and bouncing off the cards in his way.

 _Heh, talented kid_ thought Sans.

Suddenly Sans caught the faint whiff of cheap cigar smoke, realizing that King Dice was within an arms reach of him. Using every ounce of his power, Sans took control of the gravity surrounding King Dice, slamming him into a pile of jagged bones he had materialized from the ground. King Dice pried himself off the bones, a murderous look in his eyes, "Alright, ya rotten schmuck. You wanna play a game, King Dice can play a game"

King Dice snapped his fingers and the playing cards that Cuphead had been fighting floating into the air, swirling into a singular mass, and swirling all together until they became a birdcage, which came to contain Cuphead as it slammed into the earth. Then, a second, much larger birdcage appeared, slamming into the earth, capturing the Elder Kettle house.

King Dice laughed, "Now see, one of the things I can do with the boss' power is I can manipulate matter. I can also move things places instantly, so I can crush these cages and put 'em in a volcano so nobody has any remains to mourn. That is unless you accept my proposal. That is, I wanna set up a casino in Smash City when the tournament I've been hearing about starts. With all these marks comin' from other dimensions, it'll basically be pennies from heaven. We got a deal?"

"Yeah. I might even come and play a few rounds myself."

King Dice cackled, "Ey! You weren't as big a dope as I thought you were skeleton! I'll be awaiting my invitation in the mail!"

With an evil laugh, King Dice's entire body swirled into a portal which gave a cartoonish 'pop' as it disappeared

The cages disappeared, Cuphead ran over laughing uncontrollably, "Wow! That was the bee's knees sir!"

"You weren't too bad yourself kiddo, the way you were bouncing off the card guys was super interesting."

"You mean my parry ability?" Cuphead asked with a dismissive wave, "Pffft, that Bobbysox Brigade wasn't nothin'! Now let's go meet your friends."

"You got it bud," Sans said as he keyed in the portal code to his wristwatch

"I'll reserve seats for you guys if I can!" shouted Cuphead as the duo stepped through the portal the Smash Mansion foyer. In which Mario and Shulk were in the middle of an argument

"He invited The Devil's right-hand man to set up shop in Smash City! Tell me that isn't dumb!" Shulk was shouting

"He has every right to be here. Besides, if we show discriminatory business practices that might prompt Conker's gang to launch an attack on the city, which is the absolute-a last thing that we want. We gotta cater to them before during the tournament."

Shulk waved his hand dismissively, "Ugh, fine." he shouted, throwing two gold coins in Mario's direction, "You win."

As Shulk started to walk away, Mario laughed, "Sans-a, you did really good out there. You saved three people. You're a true hero."

Sans shrugged, "Better than the milk/cobblestone sandwich some volcano would've been dealing with otherwise."

Mario shrugged back, "However you see it brother. Anway, Cuphead, welcome to our fraternity, the Super Smash Brothers. Opening Day's in a few days. You're sharing a room with Ness and Lucas, I'll show you to the room. Sans your hotdogs are in the kitchen fridge, take as many as you want."

"Wait what?" Sans asked, confused, "They're my hot dogs, why do I need your permission?"

Mario shrugged, "Sorry, it's the boss in me. Have a good evening Sans." Mario said as he walked off with Cuphead

Sans let out a deep sigh, "For the love of Gaster, I'm gonna need a bottle of relish, it's been one of those days." moaned the skeleton, trudging off towards the kitchen.

(AN: Next chapter is Yoshimitsu!)


	22. Origins: Yoshimitsu

**Origins: Yoshimitsu**

 **Conference room, Smash Mansion**

"Sacré Dieu!" shouted Greninja as he eyed the dossier Mario had slid in front of him.

When the water Pokemon had been called away from an after-dinner training session with Snake, they had both assumed it was for a recruitment mission. He could not have possibly expected it would've been a half mechanical Samurai wearing a kabuki mask.

"What?" Mario asked, raising an eyebrow, "He scare you?" playfully chided the plumber

"No! That is not the case at all Mario! As you know, I am a ninja. Yet you would ask me to recruit _en samouraï_?"

"From what Ryu tells me he is more of a ninja, like you."

"Ryu? Is there a man across the dimensions that he has not fought?"

"Honestly, the more I find out about these new people, the more I question that myself. Anyway, more to the point. You will be infiltrating a ninja hideout in the base of a mountain. We understand that the mountain has volcanic potential, so being a water Pokemon, we figured you'd be more efficient than say Zelda or Snake. Do you think you can manage?"

Greninja nodded, "Of course I can. I will not fail you, Monsieur Mario."

Mario nodded back, "Good! So I assume you know where the…"

Mario was cut off by Greninja vanishing in a puff of smoke, dossier in hand, "Portal…room…is." Mario stammered through the rest of his sentence, "Seven stars almighty, it's too late at night for this."

 **Mount Fuji, 1590**

A portal opened several in a particularly thick patch of brush only a few feet away from Mount Fuji with Greninja stepping out of it. ROB had attempted to brief him, but the ninja Pokemon had simply bounded through the portal without hesitation. Greninja took a moment to observe the quiet scene at the mountain before him. Suddenly, he heard the squeaking of a pull wagon. Darting lightly to another patch of brush, he saw a group of kabuki-masked men hauling wagons of gold up a treacherous mountain trail, the destination of which was too hidden in winding pathways for Greninja to see. Using Shadow Sneak, Greninja managed to latch on to the bottom of the last wagon, hanging just inches above the trail that passed underneath him as the wagon rolled on. Greninja closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. For what seemed like several hours, Greninja stayed perfectly still as the haulers winded their way up the painstakingly long mountain trailer, his eyes only shooting open when the dirt path became stone. The wagons bumped, and the rigid rock scratched at Greninja's back. Another half an hour later, just as the air began to get thin, the floor got smooth, and the wind sounded like it was being tunneled through wherever they were at. Greninja smirked to himself. This was the hideout, the floors were obviously smoothed over by man. As soon as Greninja heard a latch being pulled, and an enormous stone door roll shut, Greninja once again used Shadow Sneak, waiting until the clan of men rounded the corner with their gold haul, before appearing visible again, only to look up and see a young, lanky looking man in the same kabuki mask. Rolling closer to the petrified man, Greninja swept the man's legs, summoning a water shuriken as he fell to his back, holding the star at the man's throat, "Wear is your leader, the one called Yoshimitsu?" demanded Greninja

"At….at the lava river. It's in the lowest part of the base."

Greninja squeezed a pressure point, rending the man unconscious, before beginning the long journey down to the sublevels of the mountain base. Using Shadow Sneak as he ran, he heard all the bustle of the mountain base as he moved, from two men telling the story of a robbery to another, to what appeared to be an instruction on meditation, to a song merrily being sung by a group of the masked men in another room. However, as he advanced down into the mountain, the air got thicker, and much hotter too. As soon as that change occurred, he could hear the clank of practice swords, the intensity of this increasing as he progressed even further. He heard a man shouting drills to younger sounding men, Eerily, as he advanced even further down, the caterwauling of noise ended, with only the hissing and bubbling of lava to greet him. Greninja slowed his pace considerably, turning off his Shadow Sneak ability for the moment, pausing to look at the cave as he progressed further and further. Other than a few peculiar slashes in the markings that the encroaching lava illuminated, the cave was desolate and quiet beyond the hiss of lava. Eventually, Greninja came to a place where the lava had settled, bobbing up at his feet like an ocean in the tide. Using Shadow Sneak once again, he teleported up to the roof of the volcanic lake, crawling along the roof for what seemed like miles.

Then, he saw it. Sitting cross-legged on an ovular stone slap with some sort of hieroglyph written on it as it bobbed down the lake, was his target, Yoshimitsu. As soon as the slab was underneath Greninja he dropped. Even the sound of Greninja slipping off the sheetrock seemed to alert the man.

"Intrrrruder!" howled the man, rolling his 'r' like an old-time Galorian thespian.

Yoshimitsu took a long swing of his sword as if he was wielding a baseball bat. But Greninja had expected it, disappearing as the sword connected with him, leaving a green, reptilian doll behind

He gasped, but quickly bottled it back in, rigidly looking around for the frog thing that had invaded his home. Greninja appeared again, this time on the surface of the thing carrying them down the volcanic paths, connecting with a thrust kick to Yoshimitsu's face, knocking him to his back. As he had done with his lanky subordinate, he summoned a water shuriken, holding it to his throat.

"I would assume you are the one they call Yoshimitsu?"

"Yes. Tis I!" screeched Yoshimitsu.

"I am in need of your assistance. I represent a cadre of heroes called the Super Smash Brothers, we face a threat beyond your imagination, and we require your assistance with it. Zis will also require you to participate in a fighting tournament. Do you accept?"

Yoshimitsu coughed, "Namu…namu… I shall assist you."

Greninja held his ground. With his opponent being masked, he couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not.

"IN YOUR SUICIDE!" howled Yoshimitsu

Yoshimitsu exhaled a deep breath, and a purple fog sprayed onto Greninja's eyes. As Greninja thrashed, now temporarily blind, the water shuriken dissipated. Greninja felt his jaw get jacked upward, as whatever attack had hit him, possibly two feet, launched him up into the wall, which Greninja was able to land on feet first. Wiping the mist out his eyes, he fired three small water shurikens at Yoshimitsu, each of which he sliced through with his sword. Greninja dove down into the lava, landing on its feet first, treading lightly enough to run on lava. Yoshimitsu could only stand stunned as Greninja caught up to the lava raft, jumping into the air, bouncing off of Yoshimitsu's head as he landed a diving stomp on Yoshimitsu's head, bouncing up into the air again. Yoshimitsu rolled out of the way as he came down for a second, and bounced into the air using his sword as a pogo stick, cackling like a mad man.

"I yield. A frog demon who can walk on water, incredible." said the ninja in between bursts of laughter

"Will you join the cause Yoshimitsu-san?"

"Ah! You use the respectful vernacular of this land, despite sounding European in origin. How odd indeed. Very well! I accept your request. However, I will need to establish a contingency leadership with my men while I'm away."

" _Non_. Smash Brothers exists outside of this place. We will be able to return you to this exact point in time when your services are complete."

"How enchanting. Shall we move forward frogman?"

Greninja nodded, "We shall."

Pressing the all-too-familiar code into his wrist communicator, a portal opened to the Smash Mansion's foyer. As they stepped through the portal, Snake was waiting for them, along with Mario and ROB.

"Ah. You're back." said Snake, "How was everything?"

"Quite eventful Monsieur Snake, I went to the base of a volcano."

"Monsieur Snake and…erm…red garbed man. I am Yoshimitsu of the Manji Clan. If the fight you all provide is anything like the ninja did, I look forward to working with you."

"And we with you Yoshimitsu," Mario said with a bow, "I'm Mario, the leader of this…clan if you will. Greninja, you're rooming with him, so take him to your room."

"Oui Master Mario. Follow moi, s'il-vous-plait."

The two ninjas walked off as Mario and Snake watched, "Hey boss, when do I get my shot?" asked Snake

"Tomorrow my friend. Now, it's too late, and we've had a long day."

"Understandable. I'm looking forward to it."

Mario walked up the stage sending a text message to the Administration Team group chat,

 **Four recruits done, 16 more to go.  
**  
(AN: Next up is a villain. Who? You'll have to wait till next week to find out!)


	23. Origins Sephiroth (feat Team Chaotix)

**Origins: Sephiroth (featuring Team Chaotix)**

 **Conker's Castle: Night**

The dawn of the new day would be encroaching in a mere few hours. And yet, the man known simply by his first name, Sephiroth, couldn't sleep, choosing instead to observe the great outdoors from atop a balcony, his enormous sword, the Masamune, in hand as always. He hadn't had much need for sleep since he tapped into his alien genome. That wasn't the only human pleasure he'd lost along the way. Eating, pain, all had been sacrificed in preparation for what he had thought to be his birthright, to destroy the place he called Earth, and stand atop its ruin as the most powerful being… well…anywhere. But he had failed. Sephiroth didn't like to admit he had felt angry over his defeat, but of all things, an insatiable little parasite named Cloud Strife had cut him off at the pass. And then he was plucked from death by a mad squirrel, with a thirst for revenge.

A small smile tugged at Sephiroth's lips. That part he could understand. His goals were much the same as the squirrel's, who he would come to know as Conker, to destroy the multiverse as it existed. That was why, supposed the One-Winged Angel, that he didn't mind being an enforcer. After all, working in allegiance with Conker would get him to the endpoint he desired, right? Again, yes, but Conker's mental state could be unreadable at times, in one moment screaming at an insubordinate, and laughing drunkenly with his arm around them the next. That, and the fact that Conker was secretive about how he was going to achieve his goal made him doubt his allegiances.

"Hey Seffy, whatcha up to?"

Sephiroth tensed. It was Queen Berri, Conker's betrothed. It wasn't that he didn't like the squirrel, who was currently clad in a purple velvet bathrobe and matching lingerie, but she was openly flirty with him. Even more bizarre was that Conker openly encouraged it.

"Just thinking is all Queen Berri."

"About what?"

Sephiroth finally turned to face the Squirrel Queen, who wasn't doing a very subtle job of eying him up and down, "Conker speaks to a higher power" began the former SOLDIER commander, "Do you know who this higher power is?"

Berri bit her lip, " I don't think hubby would be happy if I told you."

"Berri!" shouted Sephiroth, "Now more than ever, I need you to be honest with me. Do you know who the higher power is?"

"No." sighed Berri, "He won't even let me know what their plan is. He says all of our problems will be a thing of the past. That's all I know."

Sephiroth's expression darkened, "Very well. Then I can no longer stay here, or aid this cause for that matter."

Berri nodded, her gaze cast downward, "I like, completely understand. Most of the folks who stick around're people who're, like, desperate and stuff. Most of us think we owe hubby our lives. But, if you think you have other options, go for it."

Sephiroth grinned, "Thank you for your kindness Queen Berri."

Berri smiled, "Just call me Berri Seffy."

Just as Sephiroth was about to utter his thanks again, Berri spoke up with an even brighter, more devilish smile on her face, "Ooooh! I can even port you out of here with hubby's machine!"

"I can get as far as the portal room, hang on to me."

Without hesitation, Berri through her arms around Sepiroth's neck. The genetic son of JENOVA pretended to not hear Berri's impish giggle as he teleported to the portal room.

 **Conker's Castle, Portal Room**

The Portal Room had been converted from an old dungeon of The Panther King. The Portal sat in the middle of the room in the place of the old cells, while the controls had been placed atop a flight of stairs, which Berri briskly ran up, typing in the code necessary as the machine hummed to life. Sepiroth spoke up, "I'm going to the Sma-"

"I know where you're headed Seffy."

Sepiroth paused as the machine whirred to life around him, the trim of the machine glowing a faint blue, "Berri, one more thing."

"What's up babe?"

"Earlier, you said that some of you owed Conker your life. Does that statement extend to you as well?"

"Yeah. Even though I'm skeptical of hubby's plan, he brought me back from the dead, so I'm on this train ride to the end, even if it wrecks."

Sephiroth nodded, "Thank you, Berri, for everything."

"No problem babe."

With that, Sepiroth disappeared in a flash. Berri simply blew a kiss in the direction of where Sepiroth had been, briskly walking down the steps and out of the converted dungeon room.

 **Smash Mansion,**

In a flash, Sephiroth appeared at the front of the Smash Mansion courtyard. He felt the dew fill the air that came with the early morning. Just as he registered that sensation, he heard the alarms going off within the mansion. Sephiroth couldn't help but grin at that. His grin became even wider as the double doors to the mansion burst open, and Cloud Strife came flying out of them, clad in just boxers, wielding his Buster Sword. However, just as Sephiroth readied his own sword to block, he found that Marth, in a royal blue bathrobe, had blocked Cloud's blow.

Sephiroth smirked, "While it's always great to see you Cloud, I've come to talk."

"As we had suspected," said Marth, as Cloud lowered his sword and stepped back into the horde of sleepy Smashers who had formed on the front courtyard,

"We?" Sephiroth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mario, myself, and the other administration members" clarified Marth, "Your arrival was…erm…the best way to put it is that it was prophesized by the former boss of the Smash Brothers, Master Hand, and we have taken up that mantle in his demise."

"I see." Sephiroth hissed, "I wish to join your fold."

Marth raised an eyebrow, "May we ask why?"

"My answer is simple. When you and Mario spoke to the one called Edelgard, you spoke with honesty and kindness. Conker operates on no such terms. He, as well as his subordinates, are powerful yet desperate, Desperate enough that they overlook obvious deceit. With such chaotic forces at play, I intend to make sure that gambit is a losing one."

"Bullshit!" yelled Cloud, "You and Conker want to destroy the multiverse equally as badly!"

Sepiroth grunted dismissively, "Oh, don't misunderstand, whether or not you become something I need to eliminate later is entirely up to what I feel like after this is done. But, the fact remains, someone with as flawed a foundation as Conker is a force that cannot be left unchecked, something that falls in line with what the Smash Brothers believe. For that reason alone, my allegiance is here."

Marth nodded, "Good. Please follow me to the cafeteria Mister Sephiroth."

Sepiroth gave an emotionless nod as he followed the Altean prince, the crowd parting as they entered the doors. As he went through the door to the cafeteria, he saw a portly man in biker attire on one side of a long table. On the other was the man Sepiroth had come to know as Mario from their previous encounter. Mario and the biker appeared to be concluding a game of cards,

"Darn it. No more cards. You win Wario." Mario sighed

"WAHAHAHA! FINALLY, THE GREAT WARIO DEFEATS THE GO FISH CHAMPION! WAHAHAHAHAH!"

Mario rubbed his temple briefly, "Alright Wario, as per the stipulation you get to make one match for the tournament bracket. Name your choice."

As if on cue, Sonic the Hedgehog entered the room, accompanied by a bulky humanoid crocodile and a chameleon man brandishing a knife. Behind them, a humanoid bee fluttered in the air.

"Hey, boss," said Sonic with a mock salute, "I picked up Team Chaotix like you asked me to. Guess I missed somethin' while I was gone, everybody seems miffed."

It was then that the four noticed Sepiroth, The crocodile broke the silence, with a gulp and an "Oh God."

"Hello," Sepiroth said an evil grin on his face.

"S-sonic." quivered the bee, "Is this the guy Cloud was telling you about last time?"

"Judging by the sword, I'd say yeah," Sonic said, in his usual disinterested way, although his voice betrayed a hint of fear.

Wario erupted with laughter, "Seven Stars Mario, you're-a gonna love dis. Those three against the Sepiroth guy! WAHAHAHAHA!"

Mario sighed, "Okay, that'll be a first-round match, and it gave me a great idea on how to structure the tournament. Thank you, Wario, but you remember the terms of our deal correct."

Wario sighed, like a spoiled child getting reprimanded by a teacher, "Never private message you on communicator ever again. It was-a all worth it though, all ze shitposting as 9-Volt calls it to get a Go Fish match out of you, and get an audience for my brilliant stipulation."

"Listen, you're testing my patience by talking to me right now. The only reason why I ever agreed to your stupid deal to begin with was because you were keeping Peach and I up, and I thought entertaining you would put a stop with it. Next time Wario, I'mma be less nice. I might have-a Sephiroth take you in the training room and whoop your fat butt six ways from Sunday."

"Usually, I would take offense to being ordered around like this, but you remind me of a fat, loud, greedy company executive I once impaled and left at his desk for the world to see."

Mario smirked at Wario who muttered "touche" Sepiroth grinned as Wario waddled away. Sepiroth grinned as he heard Wario mutter, "I could take him though."

There was an uncomfortable silence that hung in the air for almost half a minute before Sonic spoke up, "C'mon guys let's hit the training room. The more acclimated you are with how to fight Smash style, the less bad the beating will be."

"Hey, thanks a lot jackass!" shouted the bee

"As uncouth as the hedgehog is Charmy, he has a point. We need to sharpen our skills in order to stand a chance. If we work hard enough we might be able to gain the advantage with a strategic play" said the chameleon

"Yeah Espio, yer right!" shouted the crocodile, "See ya in the ring tall, pale, and stabby!"

"Vector, don't mouth off to him." shouted Sonic, "C'mon guys, let's go!"

As the four ran off towards the training sublevel, Mario stared in Sepiroth's direction, who had an amused grin on his face, "So" said Mario, "Your room will be with…"

"I won't be needing one." Sephiroth growled, "I will keep watch over this place."

Mario nodded, "Ganondorf will be happy to hear he has his own room."

Sepiroth nodded striding back out to the courtyard, jumping up to the roof, and taking his post.

As Mario watched Sepiroth leave he heard his wrist communicator ringing. Mario pressed the button to connect the call.

"Mario here."

"It's Marth. Sepiroth coming here with Conker's teleporter means we have a lock on his signature. Conker's henchmen are causing problems in the future version of Yoshimitsu's world."

"Crap" groaned Mario, "We're a-gonna need artillery. Get Snake ready."

"As you wish Master Mario."

(AN: Next chapter, Jin Kazama vs some aliens Tune in in two weeks!)


	24. The First Skirmish

The First Skirmish

 **Classified maximum security prison somewhere in Earth Federation territory, 2647 AD**

Moving in an eerie, synchronized march, three identical, lanky, black-haired men in suits ventured to a vault in the very back of a subterranean floor of a prison facility with a location so shrouded in mystery, that it was only known to the highest echelon of government officials and the few people who worked there. Their mission, to free a man who went from war hero to greatest _genocidaire_ humankind had ever seen in just a few seconds, the man who's name the vault was inscribed with,

Bill Rizer.

The three men nodded to the technician, who used a retina scanner to make a holographic keyboard appear. The man typed in a 15 digit code, then another, then another, and yet another. Upon completion of the final string, the layers holding Bill within began to peel away, ending as a fourth vault door open. Rizer was bound at the hands and feet by large metal shackles, his blond hair wet and long, and his military issue camouflage pants uncomfortably damp looking. The man grumbled in groaned, his eyes opening to reveal an icy stare of immediate content, "Who the hell're you?" he grumbled

"We represent the President of Earth. The Blood Falcon, a spiritual successor to the organization that you and your old partner Lance dedicated so much of your to fighting, has begun to wreak havoc upon this Earth, but they have begun moving through a portal. The President's scientists have determined this to be a portal of alternate dimensional origin. We request that you follow them, and prevent them from coming back here. Transportation will be provided, but upon stepping through the portal you will have no backup. Mister Rizer, do you accept these terms?'

Bill grinned, a fire in his eyes, "When, and where?"

 _ **The Pillar of Autumn**_ **, in Instillation 04 Orbit**

The ship was under siege, that much was made obvious by the throng of Covenant warships outside, but that wasn't worth breaking composure over. Part of this was a carefully crafted poker face, as realistically, Cryo Specialist Connor Johns had plenty of reason to worry didn't wish to worry his younger subordinate and fellow Cryo Specialist, Sam Avidan, by losing composure. However, part of his stony demeanor was genuine. Every once in a while, a nagging voice told Johns that the man they were about to introduce into this conflict would win the war for Earth.

"Right. Let's thaw him out" snapped Johns, partially to bring the starry-eyed Avidan back to reality.

"Okay, bringing low-level systems online," began Avidan, talking himself through the steps, " Cracking the case in thirty seconds"

In those thirty seconds, all sound seemed to fade from Avidan and Johns' perception. This was all that mattered right now.

"Okay, he's hot! Blowing the pins in five."

As each connection point strapping the figure in cryosleep snapped, the schematics of the man's armor appeared on the computer screen in front of them. Avidan let out a muffled, "oooh" as it did. There was no doubt what the cryo pod contained, a 100 percent genuine Spartan soldier. Below the intimidating schematics was the man's codename, 'Master Chief.' A third man, Cryo specialist Dolph Rowe, was walking Chief through the basics of movement, to make sure the cryosleep hadn't impeded his motor skills, when suddenly, the Chief growled, "No time. I need a weapon."

Even though some distance and an observation deck separated Rowe and Johns, Johns could see Rowe's skin visibly pale, hurriedly tossing Chief his service pistol. Rowe walked Chief over to the shield recharge station, Johns and Avidan activating it. After bringing the shields down, and the shields automatically recharging as they were designed, a call came from Captain Keyes that Master Chief needed to be at the bridge immediately. After Rowe began to spew diagnostics and procedure at him, Keyes reiterated his command, more forcefully this time. At the exact moment, the doors to the cryosleep control room were blasted open by the first wave of Covenant invaders. Cryo Specialists Connor Johns and Sam Avidan never stood a chance. Rowe lead Master Chief through a door, Chief making sure to keep several paces behind. This was a battle instinct the proved correct, as the door became engulfed in an explosion, incinerating Rowe along with it. Chief ducked through a side door in the hallway, bolting down long corridors, and through explosions. The Spartan ducked and weaved through malfunctioning automatic doors. Down one particularly dark hallway, a Covenant grunt stood, roaring to sound intimidating. Without hesitation, Master Chief jammed the service pistol into its alien maw and shot it dead. Bounding into the next room, an older Marine was beckoning to him that he could lead him to the bridge, but unfortunately, in attempting to be helpful, the Marine took his eyes off the present battle, and so he was shot did in one laser blast from the covenant Invader. Chief emptied a few bullets into the offending grunt, killing him, bounding into the next room, which appeared to be a supply room, littered with the corpses of dead Marines.

"Get clear Chief" shouted a Marine in the next room, who was mid firefight.

Chief didn't even acknowledge the young man as he whizzed into the next series of hallways, all of which were oddly serene, "The rapid tapping of keyboards, followed by the sight of men hunched over computer banks confirmed to Chief he was on the bridge of _The Pillar_. Steadying from a run to a walk, he walked around to the big monitor to meet the man he knew to be the captain of this ship, Jacob Keyes.

"Captain Keyes" grunted Master Chief, extending a hand.

The old war veteran happily took the hand, shaking it, "Good to see you Chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."

Master Chief took note of Keyes' expression. If he was fearful or angry, he didn't show it. Cortana, the ship's AI appeared from a hologram projector on the desk, in a provocative human female form.

"A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-Class cruiser. With those odds, I'm content with three, maybe four kills."

No one could see it, but Master Chief frowned. He had forgotten how inappropriately snarky the AI could be.

"Sleep well?" Cortana asked with a flirty wink.

 _The only way to make it through this is to go toe to toe_ thought the Spartan

"No thanks to your driving, yes." dryly remarked Master Chief.

"So you did miss me," Cortana shot back with equal dryness.

An explosion suddenly rocked _The Pillar._ Both Keyes and Chief were nearly sent toppling into the holographic screen but kept their footing.

"Report!" snapped Keyes.

"It was an anti-matter charge, judging by the impact, and I bet it was fired by one of their boarding parties," Cortana explained, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"M'am! Fire control to the main cannon is offline."

Keyes clicked his tongue. That was as close to negatively emoting as anyone bearing witness to this would see the aging warhorse.

"Alright, I'm initiating Cole Protocol 2. We're abandoning The Autumn. That means you too Cortana." Keyes explained, suddenly thrusting a pointing finger in the AI's direction,

"While you do what?" Go down with the ship?" barked Cortana

Keyes pulled a smoking pipe from his jacket pocket as he spoke, "In a manner of speaking, yes. That object up ahead, I'm going to try and land the ship on it."

"It's foolish to…" began Cortana, but Keyes shook his head.

"USMC protocol is clear about these situations. The capture of a shipboard AI is completely unacceptable, and that means you're leaving ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and get set for a hard transfer," ordered Keyes.

"Aye-aye sir" piped the morose voice of Cortana as she disappeared.

"Chief, your mission is to get Cortana off the ship." Keyes began, " Keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her they'll learn everything about, force deployment, weapons research…"

"I understand," said Master Chief.

Cortana suddenly reappeared, "I've set evasive maneuvers and subroutines for landing. Not that you'll obey either without me around, but you know, due diligence and all that."

With a smirk on his face, Keyes took a long drag of his pipe, "Thank you Cortana."

Cortana went to say something in return but stopped. She closed her eyes, deeply inhaling, and then exhaling, "Yank me," she demanded

Keyes punched in a code on the keyboard connected to Cortana's holographic stand. She fizzled out of existence, and a disk lurched out of the disc drive. Wordlessly, Keyes handed the disc to Master Chief, who inserted it into the back of his helmet. Immediately, he could hear Cortana's sultry voice in his head,

"Mmmm, your architecture isn't much different from the Autumn's."

"Don't get any funny ideas," growled Master Chief

When Chief focused on the scene around him, Keyes had unloaded a USMC Assault Rifle from underneath the desk, "It's got a round of ammunition, after that you'll have to find ammo as you go."

Master Chief set off with a nod. Weaving through the hallways now sufficiently armed, he moved from room to room, clearing rooms of Covenant Forces, and cleaning up the firefights that had Marines pinned down especially the shield baring higher level Covenant troops. Serenity returned to the ship as the living Marines celebrated the Chief's arrival and their good fortune. Suddenly, another blast rocked the ship.

" What the hell? Did something just hit us?" cried a young Marine

"Move it, back to the airlock." Ordered another voice, no doubt the first Marine's commanding officer as Chief exited the room.

A horde of Covenant soldiers burst from a side room, bringing with them a barrage of laser fire. Chief took them all down with ease, but not without the cost of a bit of shield.

"Keep your head down!" whined Cortana, "There's two of us in here now remember?"

"It'll be fine. I don't need a backseat driver" growled Master Chief.

Chief heard Cortana grunt in displeasure as he rounded the next hallway. Suddenly, the AI piped up again, "They're using our lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding craft! We come out and they come in. Clever bastards."

"Our main concern is getting out of here Cortana."

The two journeyed through the winding hallways of _The Autumn,_ Chief pausing occasionally to take out a horde of Covenant, with Cortana providing an extra set of eyes when Chief needed it. Chief was especially grateful for this when Cortana directed him to the dark maintenance accessways. Chief surmised that if he had followed the main hallways, he likely would've unintentionally gone running into Covenant gunfire or worse. Chief surmised that, while Cortana could be annoying, she was an invaluable ally.

"I think they wanted to catch you napping," Cortana said to herself.

"What?" whispered Chief, peering down and seeing Covenant run about the Cryosleep area that the maze of hallways had led them to.

"The reason why they were so hellbent on following us was…you."

Master Chief couldn't afford to ponder the implications of that statement, as he mowed down the final remaining horde of Covenant enemies, before heading to the last lifeboat. He effortlessly scooped up a downed Marine, throwing him inside as the latch door closed, and the lifeboat launched away.

"We are disengaged, going for minimum safe d… what the hell?" asked the pilot, a country-accented Marine suddenly.

Master Chief worked his way up to the front of the lifeboat, peering out the window.

"What the hell?" simultaneously cursed Chief and Cortana.

It was a wormhole, and judging by the gravitational pull, which was sucking every Covenant ship into it, they were next. Suddenly, the lifeboat broke apart, and in an instant, Chief and Cortana were sucked through.

 **Devil's Pit, Mount Sumatra, Indonesia, 2017**

Chun-Li looked up at the top of the mountain she was about to climb. It all started a few days ago when Akuma had reappeared and began to embroil himself in the affairs of conglomerate warlord father-son duo Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima. This had lead to Heihachi using a satellite to blow up a building with thousands of people inside, and Kazuya had turned into a devil and blown up the satellites. Now, the two were in some sort of fistfight at the top of Mount Sumatra The law had long since turned a blind eye to the two, as they were rich beyond reproach and pillars of the economy, at least that what Chun-Li's corrupt as hell Interpol bosses had said. No matter, if no jail cell would have them, the very least she could do was climb the mountain and kick their asses.

Or at least that's what she thought, until a purple explosion rocked the top of the mountain, sending what seemed like an entire slice of the mountain down at her. Chun-Li let a curse slip in Chinese as she flipped backward, just narrowly avoiding the enormous mass.

Chun-Li let out a breath of shock, looking first up at the steaming husk that had once been a considerable length of Mount Sumatra, and then at the red, futuristic watch Ryu had given her from one of his adventures, with the catch being that it was for cataclysmic emergencies only.

"And, now seem like that time," breathed Chun-Li, "Now to get this thing to work." She grumbled, poking at the watch.

 **Violet Systems HQ, Tokyo Japan, 2017**

 _It's up to me… I must kill Kazuya_ Jin mulled over the announcement he had just made to his adopted brothers Lars and Lee, as well as the investigative reporter who's fate had become intertwined with there's.

Just as he pivoted to walk away, a purple bolt of lightning sliced through the sky sideways, then, a wormhole straight out of a sci-fi movie tore open the sky, with spaceships of unknown origins piling through.

"For God's Sake, what now?" whined Lee

"Lars, Lee, take the reporter. You and Alisa help the people on the ground. I'll go up top," Jin commanded

All three men nodded, heading for the stairs. Jin focused. He felt anger and hate piling to the front of him, like vomit. His eyes became blood red. His back exploded with pain as if daggers were flying out of his back. In truth, they weren't daggers, but wings. With a similar intensity horns sprouted out of his forehead. Using his laser beams that came out of his eyes, he eviscerated half of one ship, before swan diving off the buildings before taking to the air.

 _Scream, splat, splat, thunk thunk thunk_

Master Chief had fallen onto the top of the Covenant ship, while the body parts of Marines eviscerated by the wormhole connected with the ship. Those that lived could barely scream before their bodies impacted with the ship's outer armor and simply exploded.

"What? How… Where?" gasped Cortana

"No time! This is a Covenant Ship. Maybe we can break in through the window!"

"You crazy bastard," cursed Cortana

Suddenly, Master Chief saw a red laser erupt from one of the skyscrapers of this new world, sawing the Covenant ship two across from his clean in half.

"Bright side, we have an ally manning an AA gun." Cortana quipped

Using the visor on his helmet, Chief zoomed in on the origin point of the blast and saw a man with wings taking to the air.

"Cortana…that's not a man," Chief explained

Meanwhile, barrel rolling and tucking to brace his descent was Bill Rizer. Connecting with a Blood Falcon ship and rolling down it perfectly, he grabbed onto the nose of the ship, punching out the glass when he eased himself up and tossed the pilot out. Just as he did, he saw a man with wings fly by. The second of distraction gave the tens of Blood Falcon troops who were now out for blood time to pull him inside the ship, all surrounding him with weapons drawn. Suddenly, he heard a scream, one that sounded human

"THERE!" growled the voice

Suddenly, the center point of the room exploded, taking a few Blood Falcon grunts with it. Bill used the moment of confusion to use his trusty Spread gun, firing, and easily taking out the remaining Blood Falcon Soldiers. After that happened, a man with camo fatigues fizzled into existence, prone on the ground.

"Who're you and how the hell did you get up here?"

"My name's Snake, and I snuck on when these alien assholes deployed ground troops. Everyone else that was a non-friendly on this vessel is dead. You're welcome." Snarled the man now known as Snake

"My name's Bill Rizer, formerly of the Contra unit. I'm assuming you, me, and the goth kid with wings are on the same side?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for him too. I have a feeling we're going to run into the other two guys I'm looking for too at the end of this."

"Looking?" asked Rizer, confused

"It's a long story. Now help me figure out the weapons on this damn thing," growled Snake

Meanwhile, Master Chief was clawing his way down the side of a Covenant ship when the winged man Chief had seen earlier flew to him, his wings idly flapping, "Are you an ally?" he asked in a bored monotone

"I'm against these assholes if that's what you mean," Chief growled

"Then you are an ally."

"Enough! Just blow us a way in."

Jin nodded, swooping down to the window of the ship, and blasting a hole through it. Suddenly, what appeared to be a gang of identical mohawked, combat fatigue wearing men, jumped out, smother Jin. Jin flew up to where Chief was, thrashing. Chief could hear the beeping of multiple time bombs emanating from the men. With no hesitation, Chief unsheathed his Assault Rifle, gripping the metal frame of the Covenant ship, and firing at the bomb men, with Jin barrel rolling and shifting so Master Chief could get a good shot at each one. Eventually, the bomb men all fell to the ground, completely limp. As Master Chief looked to continue his climb inside, Cortana interjected, "Chief, there's a weapons cache, we might want to try to preserve it."

Chief nodded, "Jin! When I get inside I'm going to need you to blow out the thrusters. I'll try to land the ship. I need the cache inside."

Jin again, nodded, watching Chief climb down, occasionally blowing up smaller ships that had come out of the capital ships with lasers to give Chief safe passage. It was at this point that Jin noticed one of the red-painted ships was turning against its own allies, firing every bit of its external weapons at the neighboring capital ships. Just as Jin began to ponder the scale of this invasion, Master Chief clawed his way inside. Jin swooped around, using his eye lasers to blow up the propulsion systems. The explosion was mighty, sending Jin backward, and sending about half the ship to smithereens. When it safely landed in a nearby body of water, Jin took off towards the rogue red ship."

Inside the aforementioned rogue red ship, Snake and Bill were counting the odds having to scream to each other and hang on to something bolted down as they were flying windowless on an aircraft, "Let's see, we're about six ships down, with how many to go"

"Presumably infinity if these assholes are like the assholes that came before them."

"Well that's just great" growled Snake

"I could fix it." Jin nonchalantly said, flying up to them.

"How?" Snake asked.

"By flying up in the portal and going nuts, and hope that whatever keeps the thing open is on the other side."

"I like this guy's style, but I came through the other end, and we didn't see anything."

Suddenly, the speakers on the ship flared to life, "Devil Boy may have a theory."

"Who the hell are you?" growled Rizer.

"He's Master Chief let him talk." barked Snake.

"The way I got in here was that I was sucked in, literally out of space, I wonder if they were being rerouted to a point between Point A and Point B."

Snake shrugged, "Worth a shot as much as anything I guess. Jin, take 'em down."

Jin nodded, flying into the sky, barrel rolling around small cruisers, and occasionally firing lasers if they interfered with his direct path, eventually flying to the portal. He breathed in as deeply as he could, firing and intense, concentrated laser blast into the portal. As Jin was sent flying backward by the force of his own blast, the portal began to flicker, and the remaining ships, aside from the one Master Chief was in, were sucked back through the portal.

"Heh, it worked," Jin announced to himself before colliding back first into a tree, knocking himself unconscious.

The next thing Jin remembered were the voices of his comrades

"Well holy shit, he's just a normal guy?" Bill asked

"Yep, that's what the dossier said," nonchalantly said Snake

"Dossier?" groggily asked Jin, "The hell are you talking about?"

"Well, as I was explaining to these two, I'm Snake, and I represent The Super Smash Brothers, an interdimensional fighting league that doubles as a crime-fighting league. We're in the middle of what you might call a recruitment drive right now because there's a big threat and we need all of you."

"Fighting? Taking care of big threats? What the hell, I'm in." sneered Bill

"Cortana and I second that" agreed Chief

"Cortana?" asked Bill

"My AI. I'm sort of her protector at the moment."

"Well, there's no safer place than the Smash Mansion, a pocket dimension, that you specifically have to know how to travel on an interdimensional basis to get to." Snake explained.

"I suspect my father or my grandfather or both are involved considering how I was mobbed by Jacks."

"Cortana!" barked the Chief, "Be mature!"

"What?" asked Jin.

"She made a joke that wasn't appropriate."

"Now," Snake barked, turning all three to him, "We can't leave yet, as we're looking for the fourth…"

Snake's red watch, which none of the other three had noticed before, began to flash blue and beep.

"…Person. Right on cue," growled Snake

He pressed a button and spoke into it, "This is Snake."

"Hello. My name is Chun-Li, and I'm a friend of Ryu's. I believe I require your assistance now."

"We'll be right there." Snake informed her

"Right there? Where are you?"

"Japan."

"But I'm in Indonesia."

"No problem. I'll be there in two."

"What the…?" Chun-Li's voice was cut off as Snake terminated the call

"Everyone gather round." Announced Snake, "We're going on Snake's Magic Smash Bus."

"What in the blue hell did you just say?" growled Bill

"It's a habit, I'm sorry. There's this show that my roommate likes from my world and she keeps watching it."

"Cortana says you don't need to explain yourself, that it sounds like fun," Chief interjected

"Has anyone told you you sound insane when you speak up for your computer?" asked Bill with a sneer

"Oh, you'll meet her someday."

Realizing that cutting the chatter was meaningless, Snake used the watch's seldom used teleporting function

 **Indonesia**

Chun Li was standing at the base of the mountain, as she had been at the beginning of this debacle, when three men, one in a sci-fi armor, one guy who looked like some sort of emo-rock music video star, and two men straight out of 80s action movies appeared before her.

"Chun-Li?" growled the man in the camouflage

"Yes, that's me."

"Jesus, she could choke out Kimkoh with those legs."

Snake's palm met his face, "Forgive my friend here, he's new."

Chun-Li frowned, "I'm not going to make a big deal out of it, but trust me, someday, you'll get yours."

"Luckily for you, the invite I'm going to extend to you is part fighting tournament, part police work."

Chun-Li chuckled, "Ryu must've told you about me. He's acutely aware that those are the two things I'm best at."

Snake grinned, "Good, we're happy to have you then."

He punched in a code and a portal opened, Snake motioned them through. Before they knew it, the four were standing in an opulent mansion, where a blue-haired man in blue armor awaited them.

"Greetings!" said the man, with a wave, "I am Marth, Vice President of the Super Smash Brothers. As we're still going to be waiting for some stragglers for the next few days, I've been instructed to show you to your rooms. Master Chief and Bill, you will be rooming together. Jin, you will be rooming with Terry, and Chun-Li will be rooming with…"

"CHUN-LI IS HERE!" screamed a voice from the top of the stairs.

Ken and Ryu were at the top of the stairs, lightly jogging down to greet their long time friend. The three engaged in a group hug, "Ken! How're things with Eliza and the boy?" asked Chun-Li.

"He's almost a teenager now."

"Almost a….but Ken didn't he just start school?"

"Wait for it," said Ryu, crossing his arms

"Wait for what-aghhhhh." Chun-Li groaned, wincing

"Eeyup. Smash exists outside of time, so if you come here you become aware of your future."

"This is…strange."

"Don't I know it." Ken said nonchalantly, "Anyway, you're rooming with us."

Chun Li's eyes went wide, "Really? It'll be like when Ryu and I used to bum hotel rooms off of you in the Street Fighter tournaments."

Ken shrugged, "I'm happy to do it! Three's company as they say. Hey Marth."

"Hm?" Marth asked

"I never brought it up with Mario before, but sometimes our universe melds with another universe long enough for us to beat a bad guy and then it goes back to normal. Like, we know Jin, Yoshimitsu, Megaman, and Terry from four separate times where that's happened I feel like the villains will use that to their advantage."

"I'll bring that up with ROB immediately," said Marth

"Thanks, bro! Anyway, I'll show y'all where your rooms are if you wanna come with me."

As the three newcomers walked away with Ryu and Ken, Snake's shoulder slumped, "God, I need a cigarette." He groaned, heading for the front courtyard of the mansion.

"Don't go too far, you're actually needed for another recruitment in a few moments. It'll be much easier than the last however.'

"I'll be right there just, let me get a smoke break in." uncharacteristically whined Snake

Marth's wristwatch went off. It was the administration group chat.

 **Otis: Hey Marth, can't get ahold of Mario, and I've got a question you might be able to answer**

 **Marth: He's probably catching up on sleep from Wario bothering him. What's up?**

 **Otis: Why do the recruitment notes for the next one just say Offseason Smash?**

 **Marth: There was a group that tried to rip us off in between Brawl and Duel, and Mario's always wanted to time travel and poach some of their big stars**

 **Sans: If we don't keep Mario's ego in check, he might demand we lower him from a motorcycle so he can talk about how great it is to be king.**

 **Mikey: ROB put that in the notes just to make Sans mad**

 **ROB: Affirmative**

 **Marth: That aside, Snake's going to use an inroad to talk to three of them.**

 **Sans: Cool. The portal's ready when he is**

 **Marth: Thanks Sans. By the way, can you tag Ken and Ryu's universe? Apparently the reason Ryu knows all these people is because their universes meld randomly. Worth keeping an eye on.**

 **ROB: Affirmative Marth, I agree with your last sentiment as well.**

Marth headed up the stairs to the bedrooms, With the rest of the team ready to brief Snake at any time, he figured he should follow Mario's sentiment and take a brief nap.

(AN: Just so you all know where all of our newcomers are in their respective timelines

Jin- Final scene/after credits of Tekken 7  
Master Chief:Tutorial of Halo Combat Evolved  
Chun-Li Super Street Fighter 2  
Bill: The prologue of Contra Shattered Soldier.  
Tune in a couple weeks from now when SSB and Playstation All stars finally cross over!)

"


	25. Super Smash Battle Royale Bros

**Super Smash Battle Royale Bros**

Snake flicked his cigarette to the ground, stamping it out on the grassy front of the Smash Mansion lawn. Sighing, he pivoted on his heel and walked back inside where Marth was waiting for him, Marth held out a dossier to him. The dossier was thick, and at least three of the files were marked with yellow sticky notes. The first one, a non-stickied one, was a face he was intimately familiar with. The silver-haired, half cyborg face of Raiden.

"Are we recruiting Raiden?" Snake asked incredulously

Marth shook his head, "I'm afraid not. The three pictures with that infernal colored sticky paper are your actual recruits. The rest are to be offered auxiliary memberships if they take them."

"Got it." Snake growled

Marth's eyes suddenly widened, "Oh! I almost forgot."

Marth rummaged through a satchel slung over his right shoulder, finally handing Snake a rectangular piece of paper. Snake flipped over the piece of paper. A check, From the Bank of Smash. For forty billion Smash Coins.

"What? A check? For forty billion coins as well. Who're we giving the big bucks to?" asked the mercenary.

"Back of the dossier," Marth said with a dismissive wave.

Snake flipped through it, and saw a, quite frankly, ugly looking purple head, made of jagged shapes.

"That's Polygon Man. He's that organization's Master Hand equivalent."

"Is this some kind of Smash ripoff?"

"Well, yes. It started up about two years before the Duel tournament. It's nowhere near as popular as Smash, but it does have it's loyal fans. Master Hand has always wanted to buy them outright, give them jobs under our umbrella."

"To eliminate the competition no doubt," said Snake.

"No, to give them jobs, and teach them how to do it the proper way as Master Hand says."

Snake grunted dismissively, "Out of touch old man."

"It isn't our place to judge, only to follow. Besides, has Master Hand led us wrong before?"

Snake let out a barely audible growl. Marth was technically right, but being stabbed in the back by an authority had run in the family.

"Alright Snake, too the portal room with you!"

"Got it."

 **Portal Room**

Snake watched as the Portal Room flickered to life, the portal to another dimension, which appeared to be the sight of a hotel with an immaculately groomed lawn.

"Alright Snake" came the voice of Shulk from a control room a floor above, "I need you to contact Raiden on Codec. The portal being open should give you the reception you need."

"Hmm. I wonder…?"

"Something the matter Snake?"

"No, I'm wondering if he even still has the number."

Snake muttered something unintelligible to himself, before kneeling and announcing the code to himself.

"141.80." Snake announced, saying each number slowly and deliberately

A few, silent seconds passed. Even from a floor up, Shulk could see Snake's body jolt. Was that joy he'd just seen coming from the always grouchy mercenary?

"Raiden, it's...it's Snake. This may sound strange but, I'm...right outside the hotel. Or at least, I will be in a few seconds."

Snake grinned faintly as he stepped through the portal. A man in his position didn't often get to feel the sensation of catching up with an old friend.

 **The All-stars Hotel**

Before Snake could even enter the lobby, Raiden was already before him.

"Hmph. It must be important if the great Solid Snake comes to visit."

Snake opened his mouth but then frowned. His old friend did have a reason to be catty. It was true he'd only been keeping in contact with the Shadow Moses ops team for security purposes.

"Raiden" sighed Snake, "If I went back to our world, people would try to use my DNA for war, and start the cycle over again. Any kind of correspondence that gave away where I was would be dangerous."

Raiden chuckled, "That's the old Mercenary of Legend I know."

Before the two could talk more, Raiden had already strode to the lobby. Snake would have to ask him about his increasingly robotic face later.

Raiden was suavely shushing an overly excited front desk agent when he entered the lobby. Snake frowned as he looked around. The place was like any hotel one would find in his world's version of the United States. Soulless abstract art lined the wall. The carpet was an ugly purple diamond design on a navy blue background. Any fixtures looked like were probably new as of the 1990s. Snake let his nose wrinkle, which Raiden chuckled at, "What, my new home doesn't live up to your mansion Mister Bourgeoisie?"

Snake grinned, "Enough pretty boy. Now, can you call an all-hands meeting?"

From seemingly nowhere, Raiden produced a conch shell.

"What?" Snake asked, bewildered.

"What?" Raiden asked, indignantly, "We don't all have Command Trooper looking wrist communicators like we do."

"Hey, it's _Robot_ Command Trooper. How do you not know about the original mecha anime?"

"Because my roommate isn't an otaku." Raiden snapped.

"Ah, good point," conceded the mercenary, "Do your thing."

Raiden blew into the conch shell. The noise that came out of it sounded like a bass-boosted done of a note that seemed to go on for an eternity, followed by something vaguely sounding like a flute, if the flute was being played into a drive-thru speaker. When the noise died down, all of the people Snake had read about in the dossier seemed to just appear in front of them.

"Hey!" shouted the woman Snake had come to know simply as The Fat Princess. When Snake examined her more closely, it was clear her face was covered in some kind of icing "You interrupted my third dessert! There'd better be a reason for this ninja man!"

"Hey, who's the Escape from New York lookin' mama jamma." slurred a young man in a red trenchcoat

"Holy Precursors Dante, you drinkin' alone again?" whined a weasel atop a young blond man's arm.

"Hey!" barked Dante, "I can want anytime I " he slurred, hiccuping.

"Poor guy's probably messed up on some other stuff too." said a dark-haired man in simple khakis and wifebeater outfit.

"Mister Drake, the composition of Dante's diet today is…" a small robot perched on the back of a humanoid marsupial began.

"ENOUGH!" roared a voice, seemingly coming from everywhere at once

With a purple flash, Polygon Man appeared, "Well, if it isn't that Smasher that was too good for our little Battle Royale. I bet Master Hand put you up to this? That posh idiot has been a thorn in my skull for quite some time, and how DARE he send one of his kid-friendly soldiers to recruit my top stars. Well! I've got one thing to say to that crusty old hand, and that's…"

Wordlessly, Snake presented the check to Polygon Man. Using psychic power of some sort, Polygon Man made the check float up to his eyes, which went wide as saucers when he saw the amount

"WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY WAS, ENJOY THE PLAYSTATION ALLSTARS BRAND! I CAN BUY AS MANY PACHINKO MACHINES AND MAKE AS MANY BAD GAMES AS I WANT WITH THIS MONEY! LATER LOSERS!"

And with a purple puff of smoke, Polygon Man was gone.

"Yo...what just...happened?" said the paper-flat dog dressed like a rapper

"I believe Polygon Man is like a parrot who flew the coop...POLLY'S GONE!" chortled the weasel

For what seemed like an eternity, no one said anything. Then Snake cleared his throat, "So, the reason why we've bought out your brand is that we would like to absorb you all into our fold. Only three of you will be in our main roster, fighting in tournaments. But, when we need all hands on deck, each of you will be called upon."

There was a murmur of speculation among the crowd, which eventually quieted.

"Sly Cooper, the duo of Ratchet and Clank, and the Duo of Jak and Daxter, congratulations, you are Smashers."

"OH YEAH! IN YO FACE EVERYBODY! YOU CAN CHOKE ON THAT CAFETERIA FOOD! YEAH!" cheered Daxter, the weasel from earlier

"Calm down Dax," said his blond companion, Jak.

"Yes weasel, your victory will be short-lived." Clank, the robot mounted to the marsupial's back, droned

Ratchet, his companion, gave an uncomfortable chuckle, "Good luck you three, as for the rest of you. See you around."

"Yeah, same to you Ratchet." muttered the raccoon in a thief's outfit, Sly Cooper

There was happy chatter among the group before Dante spoke up, "OF COURSE. YOU DON'T WANT ME! I'M DOAN-TAY! C'mon Evil Cole, let's tell Soldier Boy over here where to shove his B-Team membership."

With a nod, a sneering man with a crew cut nodded, and the two-strode up to the elevator on the opposite wall of the lobby, stepping inside when the doors opened. As they got in, the man with the odd hair in the karate gi bolted after them. Just before the doors closed, Snake heard Heihachi muttering the word "proposition."

When the elevator closed with the three men inside, Snake growled, "Their loss. Alright, Smashers come with me. The rest of you, pack your stuff, you'll be receiving an invitation to the Smash Realm in the next few days. You can bring anyone you want. Seating at the stadium will be explained in your invite."

Snake typed in the code for a portal to the Smash Mansion. The four stepped through it, closing it behind them. In the foyer sat a pink humanoid hippo and a green, slightly nerdy-looking humanoid turtle.

"Murray! Bentley! What're you guys doing here?" asked Sly, a wide smile on his face

"Well, we were workin' on the van outside the hotel, and we just got teleported here," said Murray, scratching the back of his head

"Guys, this is the Smash Mansion. We're in Smash!" Sly explained

"Yes," came the voice of Marth, "You, Bentley and Murray will be rooming together. Jak, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank will be rooming together as well."

"Oh, wonderful. I crave an oil bath, it would feel exquisite right now." Clank sighed while closing his eyes as Ratchet walked away."

"Can ya not do it in the room? I don't want my room smelling like an oil dispensary!" whined Daxter as Jak walked to follow Ratchet

When the duos were out of sight, Snake sighed, "Jesus, I need a cigarette."

Marth giggled

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Snake, "By the way, where's our fearless leader?"

"Overseeing construction teams making repairs to Smash City, sending out invitations to vendors and the like. We've only got seven more people to recruit, two of which are in a group, and we've got that under control."

Snake chuckled to himself, "Remind me to buy the man a beer once all this nonsense is over," he said, walking away.

"I'll hold you to that!" called Marth.

Marth immediately keyed a short request into the administration team group chat.

 **Please call Pit, Dark Pit, and Palutena in for the next recruitment. They'll be in Hell, so tell them to dress for warm weather.**

(AN: Next week, the Kid Icarus crew take the Smash recruiting drive to Hell. Who'll they meet along the way? Tune in to find out)


	26. Origins: Dante and Vergil

Origins: Dante and Vergil

 **The Demon World, the former site of the Qliphoth Tree**

In the dank nothingness of Hell, a thick demon-slaying sword clashed with a much thinner katana-esque blade. The katana's black trenchcoat-wearing user grunted, gritting his teeth, ready to exert some force to repel the attack. However, the piercing blow of his opponent, his red trenchcoat-wearing brother, was simply too fierce. The man who wielded the katana was sent flying backward. Luckily for him, however, the man was well versed in how to respond to such an attack, simply taking a knee, and letting his knee bear most of the momentum as eventually slid to a stop.

"Score one for Dante!" the man in the red trenchcoat cheered

"Where did you learn to count?" angrily demanded the black trenchcoat wearing man.

"Same place as you Vergil, from mom," smirked Dante.

Vergil knew deep in his heart he should've been mad, but he found himself smirking, "Your idiocy aside, we're even in terms of score."

"You know, I have a feeling this is never gonna end," said Dante, mirroring Vergil's smirk.

Vergil lazily rolled to his side, careful not to lay completely down to avoid getting whatever gunk the floor of the Demon World consisted of getting in his short white hair, "Maybe, but we have plenty of time"

Dante chuckled, wiping his own, slightly longer silver hair out of his eyes. Just as he did, a voice rang out

"Isn't that just, precious?" an evil coo seemed to ring out from thin air.

In a burst of darkness a woman appeared, tall, well-built and frighteningly beautiful, with her skin almost as pale as porcelain in some places, and blotched with an evil purple hew in some places. Her hair consisted of gnarly, ravenous green snakes, and her face bore something in between a dismissive smile and an annoyed scowl. Her intimidating stiff shimmered with dark energy as her lips pursed into a smile upon seeing the two men.

"Who in the hell are you?" growled Vergil.

The woman laughed "My my, your world play truly is darling, just as my sources said it would be. However, when you interrupt the proceedings of one underworld, we all hear about it. I'm afraid you must suffer the wrath of Medusa!"  
Driving the bottom of her staff into the ground, a horde of ghoulish looking demons similar to the ones commanded by The Qliphoth Tree appeared.

"Empusas? Where'd this girl get Empusas?" asked Dante.

"Not the time!" barked Vergil

The two brothers crisscrossed each other, killing demons that would have otherwise attacked the other from behind Much to the brother's chagrin, as they cut down a demon, three more would sprout from the ground. Additionally, an aerodynamic-looking, white monster flue into the battlefield. When the mysterious white machine came to a stop, the brothers went back to back, Vergil warning, "Don't you dare say it."

The monster Dante smiled broadly, "Jackpot!" firing his two twin guns at the machine, the bullets impacting and harmlessly bouncing off the creature

Vergil looked over at his brother with a smirk, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't get great enjoyment out of that."

Three segments on the machine rotated outward revealing a veritable armory of guns, all of which began firing at the two brothers, who ran to take cover from the onslaught behind the remains of the Qliphoth Tree.

"Not the time Vergil!" Dante shouted, weaving around the blasts of energy.

The two brothers dove behind the urethral wood of the once-mighty tree, a single laser blast narrowly missing Dante's shoulder.

Vergil sneered as the howling laughter of Medusa echoed across the battlefield, "Dante, the only hope we have is if I can make it up to that thing and use the Yamato to cut everything at once."

Dante's eyes squinted, "Vergil, that's 30 feet up, and with all those guns blasting at you, I don't think you could make it."

Vergil shot a glance at his brother, ice-cold anger blaring in his eyes, "I have to try."

Dante shrugged, "Alright, your funeral asshole. You go on my signal though."

Medusa laughed again, "Oh, you half-breeds, it does not matter when or where you go, the fact of the matter is my Underworld Gatekeeper has you pinned down, and now that all of its weapons have calibrated, it will spell your DOOM!"

As Medusa began to cackle again, a portal opened, and out of it, an angel with black wings dove into the Underworld Gatekeeper feet first, colliding with at its side and leaping off it just as the creature spiraled out of the air and onto the ground, segments flayed out in every direction and unconscious. Following behind him was a brunette, blue-eyed boy in a golden mech and a flawlessly beautiful, green-haired woman in a toga.

"And that is how you beat a boss," sneered the black-winged one.

"AGH! You three! It's always you three!" Medusa shrieked at the new interlopers

"Medusa! Why are you here?" called down the toga-wearing woman.

"Simple, you pompous fool!" snarled Medusa, "King Conker revived me with souls, and Hades as well!"

"Hades?" gawked the boy in the mech, "Why are you aligned with him? You helped us kill him, remember?"

"Let's just say…with as many souls as we'll get to eat, it was easy to put aside our differences." Medusa hissed with a smirk

"I believe we've heard enough," said the black-winged one, whipping out what appeared to be a staff of his own pointing it in Medusa's direction without looking up from the corpse of the Gatekeeper, "Goodbye" he grunted.

Firing an energy bolt from his staff without even so much as a glance in Medusa's direction, the bolt collided directly with Medusa. The demon screeched in pain, causing several demons that appeared to be bats with flaming bats to fly from nowhere and smother both the mech boy and the toga woman.

"Where did she get Pyrobats?" demanded Vergil.

"And you got on me earlier for that? Puh-leeze!" spat Dante.

The boy sprung from the mech, extending his white angel wings. At this exact moment, Virgil ran forward, running through the crowd of humanoid demons that had spawned earlier. Nonchalantly sheathing the blade, the demons were chopped to bits.

"Awww, but I wanted to give the signal," Dante whined, still behind their cover from earlier

Before Vergil could retort, the toga-wearing woman pushed through the bat demons with a loud grunt

"Blackhole!" she commanded

At her word, a blackhole appeared, entrapping the throng of bat demons within it

"MEGA LASER!" she shouted

From seemingly nowhere, a pink laser ripped through the black hole, evaporating not only the bat demons but the mech that the brunette boy had come in.

"Pit," sighed the green-haired woman like mother lecturing a child, "You can't keep being so careless with these Cherubots."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but in Pit's defense, you destroyed the Cherubot with your Mega Laser."

"No offense meant Lady Palutena" Pit said slowly, "But…Pitoo is right!"

"Don't call me Pitoo," spat 'Pitoo' "My name is Dark Pit!"

"Look, I hate to break up whatever the hell is going on here, but I think you've pissed off this Medusa woman," shouted Vergil to the trio

Medusa was on her hands and knees, her faces switching between the manufactured form, the now scratched face she had had at the beginning of the encounter to her true form, a horrible, gnarled one-eyed monster face. As she shrieked, more Empusas appeared.

"Vergil! Cut these suckers down! I'm going for the lady!" Dante declared

"Heh, how typical of you," Vergil said with a grin as he charged into the crowd of demons as he had done before.

"Oooh! I'll help you out Red Guy," whooped Pit as he flew down, forming up on Dante.

As Vergil sheathed his blade after running a vertical path through the horde, once again cutting them to size, Dante spread his arms wide, a red burst of light emanating from him. When Dante came back into view, he was completely different, a demonic humanoid in form. Dante readied his sword, holding it like a fencer, and dashing at Medusa, crisscrossing her multiple times with blade slashes imbued with demonic energy. Finally, when Medusa was facing him, staggering from the pain, Dante stabbed her through the stomach.

"Guardiiiiiaaaan Orbitars!" Pit said, as two golden gauntlets appeared from nowhere

The Orbitars connecting with Medusa's face, and the demonic energy that surged up Dante's sword propelling her forward impacted the snake-haired woman at the same time. A portal of darkness open behind her, and as soon as she had cleared it, it closed.

The five sat in a bewildered silence for a few seconds before Palutena asked, "Soooo should we get down to business?"  
"Oh?" Vergil asked, rolling his eyes, "And what business is that?"

"Offering you both a gig!" Pit yelled excitedly

"And getting you out of here, don't forget" groaned Dark Pit.

"There's a catch isn't there?" said the brothers together, looking at each other in bewilderment..

"Of a sort," said Palutena, finally setting down on the ground, "Ever hear of Super Smash Brothers?"

"Can't say that I have," said Dante, "But I'd go to Patty Lowell's birthday party if it meant a ticket out of here."

"Wait wait wait," started Virgil, "Is this one of those fighting tournaments?"

"Yeah, it is! We're also a peacekeeping task force!" chirped Pit.

"We have reason to believe several enemies from your past have joined King Conker's order, including Urizen, and the cult that raised your Nero."

"It appears that unfathomable power is before us. If you need our help, we're in." Vergil quickly shot.

" Of course you'd say that considering Urizen is your other half," smirked Dante, his eyes suddenly widening in realization, "Wait, if it's a fighting tournament…is Ryu there?" asked the demon hunter.

Palutena tilted her head, while Dark Pit rolled his eyes, "How did you know?" asked the goddess

"Because Ryu's friggin everywhere. Get us out of here! I can't wait to see Ryu! I bet Nico and Nero will be happy to see us!"

"Oh, they've already received invitations!" Palutena explained with a beaming smile

Suddenly, they could hear loud beeps coming from Pit's wrist device.

"What in the name of Heaven and Earth are you doing?"

"Trying to enter the code. You know, the one that'll get us back home?"

"You idiot! You know you can't read!" yelled Dark Pit

"You're just trying to be helpful," cooed Palutena, "Thank you Pit!"

Dark Pit simply huffed and entered the code himself. All five stepped through the portal into the Smash Mansion. The half-demon brothers stood to reason that the way the sun glared into the windows, it was near sunset. Standing before them were Marth and Sans.

"Ah, Dante and Vergil, sons of Sparda," began Marth, "I am Marth, Prince of Altea, and Vice President of Super Smash Brothers."

"Where's the Prez? Can we meet him?" asked Dante, causing Vergil to roll his eyes.

"Mario's busy. We're only a short time away from the big training week, so he's trying to set up things for opening day."

"Marth, Medusa was there and said something about souls. Apparently whatever it involves brought her and Hades back together when the former helped us kill the latter." Paultena explained.

Marth frowned, "Hmmm, that is concerning. I will report it to Mario immediately."

"Hey, not to interrupt…" Dante began

"Which you are!" snapped Vergil.

"And now you're interrupting me," Dante snapped back, "But is there a way I can get like a pizza or something?"

"Yeah," said Sans, "Although I know our McDonalds affiliate is already set up though. People don't like to go there because it always smells like farts," explained the skeleton turning his head and winking to no one in particular.

"What was…?" Vergil asked, utterly befuddled

"Sans just does that occasionally," Marth explained with a sigh, "Look, Vergil, you're rooming with Dark Pit. Dante, you're rooming with a fellow named Wolf. He's not going to be around until late or until morning, so you'll have the room to yourself for the time being."

"Pizza in bed!" cheered Dante.

"Idiot," muttered Vergil

"Hey man, that sounds pretty sweet. I might join you once we drop off NoFun McLamepants over here." Sans said, gesturing to Vergil.

"So you're telling me you want me to eat pizza with you, in bed?" asked a surprise Dante,

"Hey, it's not a sex thing. I have a girlfriend." Sans explained.

"Non-intimate, in bed pizza-eating sesh with a skeleton? This party's getting crazy, let's rock!"

"Hell yeah man. Let's go get you to your room." Sans said, gesturing to the grand staircase.

As the three walked briskly up the steps, Pit moaned, "He had to mention pizza! Now I have a craving!"

Palutena put her hand on her chin in thought, "Now that you mention it, pizza does sound good? Wanna join us Dark Pit!"

"Nah, I've got some poetry to finish writing in my room" scowled Dark Pit, heading up the stairs as Dante, Vergil, and Sans disappeared behind the double doors

"Eh, your loss Pitoo! C'mon Lady Palutena, my treat!"

"Don't call me that! Vergil probably appreciates fine literature anyway!"

Pit and Palutena shared a giggle, walking towards the kitchen. Just as the two celestial beings disappeared from sight, Marth's watch pinged. A message had been left for the administrative team group chat.

 **Mario: Wolf, Fox, and Falco are already setting up their recruiting job. Shulk, you're up for one, head to Conference Room A, Zelda, Altair, and the Ice Climbers are needed for the last three and I want them all done tonight.**

 **Sans: Not it. Got a bro date tonight.**

 **Mario: O_O**

 **Sans: Yes! I got an emoji out of you**

 **Otis: uwu, you have your date tonight Sans, Me n' Mikey will take care of Zelda  
ROB: I will brief Altair**

 **Marth: I guess that leaves me with The Climbers  
Shulk: I was already in the neighborhood. The guy in the bathrobe is it?  
Mario: Great! Yep Shulk, that's him.  
Shulk: I'll head out first.**

 **Mario: Awesome. You guys are superstars! I'll send out the notice tomorrow morning. Break for the weekend, and then physics week starts.**

 **Sans: Wait, this place has no days of the week right? So how do you know it's the weekend?  
Mario: I'm the boss, it's the weekend when I say it's the weekend. Everyone's dismissed. I'll be available in my room if anyone needs anything. **

Marth grinned as everyone logged off. Conference Room B was seldom used because it was a side room of the dining hall, but as it was dinner time, it would be nice and convenient for pulling someone away from their dinner….but not before he got a bite first!

(AN: I can't remember the last time I uploaded twice in 24 hours, not here, not as ChocolateyGenesis my old account! Ironic that I bring up my days from Star Fox because we've got some Star Fox business to attend to. Next Chapter is probably next week, if not sooner, given the role this quarantine has got me on lately!)


	27. Origins: Krystal

Origins: Krystal

(AN: Just so we're clear on the chain of the canon for this. ZeroAdventuresAssault" Star Wolf Returns" ending of Command)

 **The Great Fox 2, outside of Kew airspace, Bridge**

Just outside the rainy, lawless planet of Kew, the three remaining members of Star Fox and the whole of the Star Wolf team had gathered for a summit. And to begin this summit they…waited for a phone call to connect.

"Who are you friggin calling?" demanded Falco

Fox rolled his eyes, "Dude, it's rang like four times, shut up."

"Knowing from personal experiments, holo-phone calls on Kew have abysmal connections." Interjected the rose obsessed Panther Caruso of Star Wolf

"An' how would you know that buddy? Dated a few women on Kew?"

Panther's forehead wrinkled, "Yes, how did you know?"

Falco gagged, "Good grief," said the avian, "Go get checked out."

Panther hung his head, "Panther is quite familiar with that process as well."

"If you don't quit your yammering" interjected Leon Polwalski, Wolf's right hand, "I'll skin you all alive."

"Leon, simmer," Wolf commanded with a snap of his claw, "We're going into Kew with somebody who's pissed off at all of us. Might not be the wisest thing to do to piss off the backup."

As Leon gave an annoyed grunt, slumping against the wall, the call connected. A brown-furred humanoid minx and a white-furred cocker spaniel appeared on the screen. The minx was dressed in a leather jacket and had aviator sunglasses rested upon her head, whereas the spaniel was wearing a frilly, fashionable jacket, with a bow rested atop her head.

Slippy's eyes lit up, "Miyu! Fay! How've you been?"

"Great!" eagerly squeaked the dog, Fay, "Miyu and I got married!"

"Oh my gosh guys congratulations," Fox said, "Sorry we couldn't be there."

"No prob man," chided the significantly gruffer Miyu, "Kew really isn't the place for partying anyway. Plus, I doubt the marriage would hold up in a Lylatian court."

Slippy's forehead scrunched up, "Wait, I thought gay marriage was legal in Lylat."

Wolf groaned, "No you idiot, because it's on Kew."

"Wait a minute," demanded Falco, "Why are you two on Kew? Weren'tcha Academy instructors? Ain't that why you turned down our request to fly with Star Fox, which is why we had to get the old man and the frog?"

"Well," Fay said, rubbing the back of her head, "That's kind of hard to do when the Flight Academy and your house gets wrecked by the Aparoid invasion."

"Oh yeah…" Slippy whispered, his head hung.

"You still didn't answer my question!" squawked Falco.

"Because I paid for them to be," Fox explained.

"How? You lost half the Aparoid Invasion payday to investments. It's why the team split up in the first place," shouted Falco.

"Or…so you thought."  
"What do you mean Fox?" pleaded Slippy, his eyes full of dread and sadness.

"That was the cover. The half of the Aparoid pay actually went to them."

Leon's eyes suddenly gleamed with understanding, and he was now cackling in the back of the room, "Oh my Creator, you didn't."

"What's with you lizard breath?" snapped Falco.

"What has been McCloud been chasing like a dumb puppy for the last half-decade?" Leon hissed.

"Krystal." whispered Falco, his eyes now full of understanding…and rage, "Fox, tell me he's just got a screw loose and he's lyin."

"Well, he's right."

"WHAT? WHY?" shouted Slippy

"You know Krystal and I's relationship hit a bit of a snag after The Aparoid Invasion. I anticipated her leaving me, and so I…"

"You paid Miyu and Fay to follow her?" Wolf snarled in disgust.

"Please understand," Leon began, "That I say this as someone that has tortured and killed multiple people, that's disgusting behavior McCloud."

"You don't have to rub it in! Krystal is foreign to our galaxy, and someone who's known only us and Star Wolf, who I don't exactly trust to keep a loved one safe."

"I'll remember that the next time you need a ride on my Wolfen's wing, chump," Wolf growled, flipping him the middle claw without looking at him.

"So…dubious legality aside, you paid our friends to stalk your ex-girlfriend and then what?" prodded Slippy.

"After the Anglar Invasion, I heard through the grapevine that a blue fox named Kursed was looking for passage into Kew. That obviously alarmed me…" Fox began but was cut off by Miyu.

"And so we went deep undercover," Miyu shrugged nonchalantly, "We approached her, told her about our experience in the military, and we formed a team with her. We're The Kursed Klaw's."

"She's _still_ going by Kursed?" guffawed Panther, "I had heard about her through the grapevine, a staff-wielding dominatrix making ruffians' lives hell on Kew, and was so deeply hurt she was going by such an ugly name."

Falco leaned into Fox, "Heh, DK's crocodile friend'd like that name."

Fox grinned, "Yeah, I suppose so."

"We talked it over with the boss. We explained a mercenary unit was interested in cooperating with us for a mission, but they requested not to reveal names until we all met."

"Good," Fox said with a nod, "You guys are off the beat after this."

"I mean, obviously. But Seriously Fox, thank you. Weird nature of the whole thing aside, you put food on me and Fay's table when we were homeless, and you protected a friend. I'll always remember that" Miyu said.

"Coordinates will be sent to you after this phone call. See you all soon!" said Fay, with a playful salute.

As the Kewian coordinates appeared on screen, Falco said: "Remind me to kick your ass during Physics Week McCloud I knew you had a bit of scum in ya, but I need to vent my frustration about the stalker crap you pulled."

"I second that," growled Wolf, which such venom that even Leon and Panther flinched

"Fine, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the mission," Fox growled, " ROB, we're needed on Kew, take us down."

"Affirmative," barked the robot.

In a flash, _Great Fox II_ had broken Kewian airspace, and immediately became pelted by rain. The flagship headed for Kew's soul spaceport, which served as the demilitarized zone between Kew's wealthy Upper District, and dirt poor Lower District. The ship touched down, and the makeshift sestet stepped out onto a chromatic floor, which Fox noticed was eerily clean despite the hustle and bustle, no doubt tracking in the consequences of perpetual rainfall. From the back of the line, Leon hissed at them, "These are my people, let me take the lead." After waiting in a customs line that seemingly took an eternity, a fat looking humanoid, who appeared to have the body of a man, but the head and features of a snake, was the man at the counter,

"Name?"

"Leon Polwalski."

The desk agent's yellowed eyes went wide, "THAT Leon Polwalski?"

Leon grinned impishly, which sent shivers up Fox's spine, "Yes, I have assembled a crew of Lylatians to claim the bounty on the Kursed Klaws."

The desk agent matched Leon's evil grin, "If you do, you'll be no doubt be a national hero in The Lower District."

"I look forward to it."

The desk agent waved the entire group through, Fox jogged to keep pace with Leon, whispering, "Krystal has a bounty on her?"

"Welcome to Lower Kew junior, half the population does.' Leon shrugged.

"Why would we be heroes if we take out Kursed Claws?" Slippy asked from behind Fox.

Again, the chameleon shrugged, "Don't know. Maybe she's actually trying to fight on the side of right here? Foolish woman."

Fox growled under his breath as they came through the automatic doors that emptied into The Lower District. The first thing Fox noticed was the ramshackle buildings, the shoulder to shoulder crowds. As they walked through the rainy city, Fox saw more street gamblers and women of the night than he had in even the lousiest Cornerian neighborhood. At about the midpoint of their journey they saw a tentacle fight between two gruff-looking Takorians. Fox blinked, surprised to see them at first, before remembering that Kew was technically the bridge between Lylat and Captain Falcon's Milky Way galaxy, as he had seen on a trip there, to both confront his double life living father James, and save a wealthy merchant's infant daughter from the clutches of Black Shadow.

 _If only Kew wasn't such a lawless piece of junk, then our galaxies' relationship wouldn't be so strained_ Fox thought, observing more gamblers, gun dealers, and provocatively dressed women looking to sell their services as he walked. Suddenly, Leon stopped.

"According to your friends' coordinates, their building is here," hissed Leon pointing to his left

Fox had to squint through the rain-induced fog to see it, an innocuous, yet pristine-looking metal buildings amidst a series of rotting wooden cabins. The group cut through the crowd, Leon knocking on the building's door. A sliding mechanism on the door slid back, revealing the crystal-blue eyes of Fay. The door opened, and Fay gestured them in, "Right this way gentlemen," said the spaniel.

Sitting at the table in the lone room of the hideout, were Miyu and Krystal. When the metal door they had come in slammed shut after everyone had ambled in, Krystal looked up, locking eyes with Fox.

"You," growled Krystal,

Fox sighed, "Listen, I'm not here to rehash old shit. This is business."

Panther interjected next, "McCloud speaks true my darling."

"I don't want to hear a word of your mouth Caruso. When we basically won the damn Anglar Invasion by ourselves, and I'd cry to you about being mocked in public by the ungrateful schlubs we saved, what did you do? Sure, you took me on nice dates, bought me nice clothes, and pleased me in the bedroom, but we never talked. You never addressed my feelings. By the way, don't you think I noticed you running around on me? I'm a telepath."

"You cheated on a girl who can literally read your mind. You friggin idiot" Falco chided

Krystal chuckled. But it wasn't a chuckle of humor, it was one of disgust.

"Oh, Lombardi, I missed you, constantly talking down to everyone, deflecting your insecurities with humor. Maybe you can make laugh one more time before we take you out."

Miyu and Fay stood by Krystal's side, Krystal unsheathed a small, linear object from a holster on her back. She pressed a button on its side, unsheathing a black version of her Cernian staff, crackling with blue energy.

"Your thoughts are of surprise. Do you seriously not think Cernians know how to build one of these? I never used it though, as Lylatian weapons always did the job. I did savor a chance to use it, to feel something connecting with another person's body, and now that time's…"

Suddenly, her face went blank. Fox had seen the look many times. She only really looked like that when a telepathic thought hit her when she hadn't invited it.

Fox shot a look to Panther who looked deathly worried, "Do you think..."

"Oh no," was all Panther had to say.

Almost as soon as it happened, her blank, shocked look transformed into one of pure rage, teeth gnashing against one another. Before anyone in the group could blink, she jumped in the air, twisting her body to kick Fay right in the face.

"FAY!" cried Miyu

She ran at Krystal, but a simple palm thrust to Miyu's stomach was enough to send her on all fours. She delivered an ax kick to Miyu's neck.

"HE PAID YOU?" screamed the blue fox, pushing her foot into Miyu's head whenever she tried to move, "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!"

"Krystal, that's enough!" pleaded Panther

She readied her staff, blasting an ice blast at the unready Panther Caruso, freezing him solid.

Without so much as a word, Leon went to all fours, scampering across the wall, moving horizontally as a lizard does. This seemed to catch Krystal slightly off guard. Wolf saw his chance and leaped into a Wolf Flash. However, Krystal grabbed him by the throat as soon as he was within range, throwing him into Leon who was mid-jump. Both Star Wolf member's head cracked against each other hard, and with the floor slightly less so. Falco charged next, throwing a winged punch. Krystal blocked it, grabbing his wing, twisting it, breaking it over her shoulder, and judo tossing him to the ground, slapping him a few times. When Falco lay prone, she grabbed him by the leg, dragging him to the pile with Leon and Wolf, charging up an ice blast shot, only to be interrupted by a flying kick from Fox.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I don't have a choice," Fox said, sadness and fury mixing in his voice all at once.

"You didn't give me a chance when you hurt me the first time," Krystal growled, righting herself from the kick.

Fox threw a kick, but Krystal caught it, driving Fox into the wall. His head made a mighty "clang" with the wall. Krystal unloaded with punches. Suddenly, she heard sobs.

It was Slippy. In the fray, she had forgotten he was there. Tears were running down his face, and his hands were clasped, "Krystal, please. No more. Fox is my brother, and you were like a sister-in-law to me. I knew things were bad, but I never wanted it to be like this. Please, Krystal, stop."

Krystal's face suddenly softened, "Oh Slippy, what did McCloud say to you to trick you into this?"

"This was meant to be a Smash Bros invitation!"

Krystal let out a gasp of shock, "They want me?"

Slippy sniffled the tears stopped. Y-yeah!"

Suddenly, Krystal frowned, "Well too bad."

Firing an ice blast, Slippy Toad was caught mid-scream as he was frozen.

Krystal surveyed the room, thinking about what to do. Fay was from a wealthy family, so her parents would gladly pay a ransom, and she could probably pressure her into asking for more to free her wife. Wolf, Leon, Panther, and Falco probably had bounties on them, so she could turn them in. Slippy, the only person in this fray she liked at the moment, was the only one she could see just letting go.

But Fox?: Fox had to suffer.

Krystal stepped back pointing the staff at Fox, setting up a fire blast. Just as she fired the blast, a small object flew in between Fox and the approaching ball of flame. The object erupted into a blue diamond of energy. Before Krystal could even process what the object, specifically a Reflector, was, her blast blowing up in front of her. The blast sent her flying backward, through the table, knocking her unconscious.

"Heh," laughed Falco, pushing Leon's body off of his to stand up, "Saved your ass again McCloud."

He pressed a button on his Smash wristwatch, "Somebody, anybody. We need…" he stopped to count, "Eight medical evacs. I think I'm concussed too."

Falco projectile vomited onto the floor, "Yeah, definitely concussed, "Get yo…get yo…"

And Falco passed out as well.

 **Doctor Mario's infirmary**

Krystal awoke, her nose immediately wrinkling. The overwhelming smell of sanitation meant one thing, hospital. Krystal's eyes darted around the room. Judging by the stories Fox had regaled her with, the man in the doctor's costume, knelt on her left, was Doctor Mario. Fox himself was on the right side of the room, reading a magazine, one with them on the cover.

"What? Where am I?" weakly moaned Krystal.

"My infirmary. I'm..."

"Doctor Mario, I know,"

"Well, then you probably know you're in the Smash dimension."

"I do," Krystal whispered

"Ah, you're awake," Fox began, "I was reading the tabloid published after our breakup. Did you know Panther leaked the story?"

"That was my idea. I knew it'd drive you crazy if Panther got quoted."

Fox growled, "It did.'

"I'm glad."

"That aside," Fox continued, "Like the good doctor said, you're in the Smash dimension, and we want you to be a Smasher. You'll be in the tournament. You can either accept the invite, and we'll work to clear your name, maybe even set you up in the Milky Way Galaxy, and you'll never hear from me again. You decline, however, and we either dump you in Kew to get dogged on by the rest of the population, or you go to jail in Lylat for Star Wolf's shit, that decision has been left up to me."

"I accept to be one of the Smashers."

"Are you sure?" chided Fox, " I think you'd be the queen of the prison, judging how you kicked all our asses."

"I said I accept, you idiot! The only reason why is so that I can kick your ass, kick Falco's ass, and kick Wolf's ass, all without having to go to jail."

Fox shrugged, "Fair enough," he said, standing up, folding the magazine under his arm ready to leave.

"How are the others?" Krystal whispered,

" Wolf got out pretty quick, Falco did too. Turns out that Doctor Mario's pills even reset broken bones. Slippy, Panther, and the others got out pretty quickly too, but they're at a hotel that we can't visit until after Opening Day. You can apologize to them then. You can apologize to _us_ in the ring."

"You'll be here till tomorrow, but training rooms open two days after that." Doctor Mario explained.

Fox wordlessly walked out of the infirmary, where he was met by Mario, his arms crossed, "Why do you Cornerians always cause the drama?"

"I don't know."

Mario frowned, "Is Krystal someone we're gonna put in the evil category?"

"No," Fox shook his head, "She hesitated when she could've killed all of us, especially Slippy. She's been hurt…by all of us, and we have to earn her trust again."

"I trust that you do," Mario warned, leaving without another word.

Fox hung his head as he walked out into the main hallway. He'd have a lot to think about.

(AN: Next time, Zelda goes on her recruiting adventure. Tune in to next chapter to see what happens next)


	28. Origins: Subject Zero

Origins: Subject Zero

 **Smash Mansion: Portal Room**

When Shulk walked into the Portal Room, he noticed an Alloy, one of the Kirby-shaped attendants, waiting for him, holding a lanyard with five keycards attached to it,

"Your recruit will need these," droned the Alloy, "We've got the place you need to go pre-loaded into the portal generator, also the location of the girl he's taken in as his ward, who is currently kidnapped. Your recruit will likely want to resolve that business before returning here."

"Ah yes, the little girl. I read the dossier," grimly remarked Shulk, "Alright, fire 'er up!" he said, his voice now suddenly full of vigor.

The Alloy stood frozen as the computer that controlled the Portal Room flared to life, seemingly imputing commands on its own before the portal fired to life. Wordlessly taking the lanyard from the Alloy, Shulk stepped through.

 **The Third District**

His heart beats at a million miles an hour. His face is cold with sweat, dry with tears. His teeth are grit against one another. Through the polluted, heavy air of the slums, from which he runs, the government building on the edge of town being his only reprieve. His ears perk up at the slightest wale of a police siren, but he wonders if the police will even touch him, especially after the incident in Chinatown. He slows time, blinking in and out of his neon other world to bolt past lumbering pedestrians and to quickly skitter across a nearby street. Another block, then another. Running, running, ducking in and out of allies. He knows he can't go through the front door, so he dashes along the grimy, disgusting backs of buildings, hoping the government's card keys were universal as he slowed his pace, jumping up a fire escape. He swipes the card key. The machine that reads the card beeps a merry beep, and he can open the door! He steps into the room, a sterile, blank, metallic room. Lining the wall to his left were several compartment doors, all guarded by a keycard. On the opposite side of the wall from him, another door, exiting the room but leading deeper into the building. He tried the first compartment door, **"ACCESS DENIED,"** blared the machine.

Another compartment door.

 **"ACCESS DENIED"  
** Another.

 **"ACCESS DENIED"**

Another.

" **ACCESS DENIED"**

Another.

" **ACCESS DENIED"**

The final compartment door.

" **ACCESS DENIED"**

Growling, he strides to the door to the next room. Surely this must work?

" **ACCESS DENIED"**

Slamming the door, he breaks into silent sobs,

"Elizabeth, damn it!" he cries, sinking to his knees.

Punching the door. That's all he could do. Pretend that they were the bastards who took Elizabeth, the neighbor girl that had enriched his life so, giving a killer a window into innocence, and hope for a miracle.

A portal opens and out steps a blond man in a red vest, black pants, and sneakers, carrying an oddly mechanical sword on the hilt on his back. In his hand, he idly swings a lanyard full of keycards. The portal closes, and the man speaks to him.

"Subject Zero?"

Subject Zero shots a glance over his shoulder, "What's it to you?" he growled,

"My name's Shulk, and I've got a job for ya!"

"Oh?" sneered Subject Zero, "What kind of job?"

"First of all," Shulk began, flashing the lanyard to Subject Zero, "Help me figure out what these do," said Shulk, throwing the lanyard to Subject Zero.

Subject Zero caught the lanyard, opening each of the five keys. They were all connected to the compartment doors, of course. But each door contained a sword, swords unlike those he had ever seen before.

"Ah," Shulk said, "You might want to take all of those."

Subject Zero raised an eyebrow, "Take them where?"

"To get the little girl back!" Shulk declared

"Elizabeth," growled Subject Zero, "Her name is Elizabeth"

Shulk nodded. Subject Zero immediately tensed as Shulk spoke into a gaudy red digital watch he was wearing on his wrist, "Shulk to Control, send us to the second location. I repeat, Shulk to Control we're ready to go to the second location."

Another portal opened. As Shulk went to step into it, Subject Zero cleared his throat, causing Shulk to pause.

"We can't go in guns blazing. The people I've been dealing with lately have either been expert marksmen or experts at hand to hand combat. One screw-up, and we're both dead," explained Subject Zero

Shulk simply nodded, and the two entered the portal simultaneously. The room was dark, the roof low hanging. The only source of light was a single hanging lamp on the other side of the room. As the two approached closer, they could see in the center of the light, a red-clad little girl with raven hair. Shulk reasoned this was Elizabeth. On either side of her were two men in masks, one in a golden mask representing the Greek symbol for comedy, the other with a silver mask, baring the Greek symbol for tragedy. Subject Zero went to strike, but Shulk held out a hand, "Wait," he whispered.

In a vision clouded by an ethereal blue, Shulk saw Subject Zero leap forward, only for the golden-masked one to pull out a gun and shoot him in the heart.

"The golden masked one has a gun," whispered Shulk

Subject Zero nodded, pointing two fingers at the one in the golden mask, tapped Shulk on the shoulder, and pointed to the one in the silver mask. Shulk instantly understood, scooting over to the other side of the light so that he was facing the man in the silver mask directly. After a moment's pause, Subject Zero jumped up, Shulk following his lead. As predicted, the golden masked man shot at Subject Zero, but, faster than his eyes could process it, Subject Zero deflected the bullet with a swipe of his sword. At the same time, Shulk landed a Manado slice directly through the silver counterpart's shoulder. Both men were down.

"Ah, it seems as though the plot thickens Comedy?" said the silver masked man.

"Indeed Tragedy," shouted Comedy, "But no matter! A divergence in the plot will not deter us! Until we meet again, O' Wayward Heart."

Suddenly, the lamp flickered off. A second later, a light that lit the entire room powered on, with Tragedy and Comedy nowhere in sight, but Elizabeth stood under the lamp completely unharmed.

Immediately, Subject Zero engulfed Elizabeth in a hug,

"Zero. You came," Elizabeth said through sobs.

"Yes," said Subject Zero, "And I'll never leave again."

Shulk felt a warm smile overcome him. What he wouldn't have paid for someone to swoop in and save Fiora when he thought her dead.

"Now that that's sorted," Shulk said, "I need you to do something for me."

"I owe you my gratitude, I think we both do. Elizabeth, say thank you to Mister Shulk,"

"Thank you for helping Zero save me Mister Shulk," chirped Elizabeth

"So you'll participate in a tournament with me? We also double as a peacekeeping task force, which gives you an excuse to fight the folks that've been givin' ya trouble," Shulk said with a smile.

"Yes. I owe you that much."

Without a word, Shulk punched in a code to his communicator, and a portal opened up. The two stepped through it, Subject Zero holding Elizabeth in his arms. As the two walked, Shulk was thumbing through another application on his device.

"So it looks like you and Elizabeth's new roommate will be…" Shulk paused, his smile turning into a worried frown, "Oh no."

"What?"

"YOUNG MAN!" screeched a hoarse voice from across the lobby, "YOU SHOW UP HERE IN A BATHROBE! HOW INDECENT OF YOU! HOW MANY POWERUPS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR CABINET AT HOME YOUNG MAN!?"

As Subject Zero came to his senses, he saw a paper-thin, black humanoid ambling across the lobby at him.

"MISTER SHULK, IT'S LIKE I'M SAYING, THE MORE POLYGONS THE HEROES HAVE TODAY, THE MORE CORRUPT THE YOUTH GET," screamed the two-dimensional man.

"Game and Watch, please do mind your volume, there's a little girl here." Shulk scolded him

Game and Watch ambled closer, seeing Elizabeth, now cowering into Subject Zero's arms. Immediately, Game and Watch's tone softened, "Oh, hello young lady, what's your name?"

"E-Elizabeth," Elizabeth responded in a shaky voice,

"Well, I'm Mister Game and Watch. Are you staying in school and eating your vegetables?"

"Y-yeah. Zero eats vegetables all the time." Elizabeth said, a little less afraid now, "And I do like to read."

"What a good young lady!" Game and Watch said with pride, "And you're this young lady's father figure, judging by the way she clings to you?"

"In a sense yes, that's me. I'm Subject Zero."

"Subject Zero…Subject Zero…hmmmm," Game and Watch pondered, mulling over the name, "Ah! We're roommates, aren't we? Come, let me show you the suite."

Game and Watch led Subject Zero and Elizabeth up the stairs. As Shulk was observing the scene, Link appeared next to him, a fish sandwich in hand, "Holy shit, did you calm Mr. Game and Watch down?"

"I think you'll have to thank Elizabeth for that," Shulk said with a smirk

"I'll be damned," said Link, "Dreams really do come true."

(AN: So, I know that in Katana Zero, Comedy and Tragedy are rumored not to exist, same with The Little Girl, who I'm calling Elizabeth because that was her name in the alpha build and I'm not calling her "The Little Girl" all fic, but I like the characters/plot so much I'm going to avoid as much hallucinogenic stuff as I can with Subject Zero. So, next up is Zelda, who's going to recruit a certain ninja…)


	29. Origins: Ryu Hayabusa

**Origins: Ryu Hayabusa**

 **Smash Mansion, Dining Hall**

Zelda, Peach, and Daisy were walking through the dining hall, each carrying a meat and vegetable platter, discussing the affairs of their kingdoms when they passed Marth's table. Marth, who was sitting by himself, suddenly stood up seeing the trios pass by, stepping in front of them.

"I hate to interrupt this conversation ladies," said Marth, "But may I borrow Princess Zelda for a moment? She's needed for a recruiting job."

"Oooh!" said Peach, an interested grin on her face, "Best of luck to you darling!" she called

"Knock 'em dead dude! Oh, we'll save your platter for ya!" said Daisy, scooping her own plate underneath Zelda's, jarring it from her as the two other princesses about-faced and walked the other direction.

"So, who's this recruit?" Zelda asked, hands on her hips in anticipation.

Marth directed a sweeping gesture towards Conference Room B, "In here," he said simply, heading for the room.

Opening the door, a dossier was already on the table in the blank conference room. Zelda opened it, revealing a ninja in blue garb. Immediately, she smiled wide, "So this is a ninja-on-ninja situation Your Highness?" she asked with a wink.

"Not necessarily Your Highness," Marth said, returning the wink, "We don't anticipate you having to fight him. Just let him know that we might need his demon expertise."

Zelda nodded, "Okay! Simple enough!"

Marth nodded back, "Quick study as per usual Princess. The Portal Room is ready to go when you are."

Zelda curtsied, with a bright smile on her face, "I'll depart as soon as possible! Thank you, Marth!" she said, leaving the room.

Stopping first to touch base with The Link Trio, who had sat together as per usual, about her activities tonight, she headed for the Portal Room.

 **New York City, New York, 1991**

Zelda stepped out of the portal into an alleyway, Immediately, her nose wrinkled, "Hm, if this is what the industrial revolution brings, count me out," she muttered to herself.

Upon exiting the alley, Zelda used Nayru's Wind to cross a busy intersection. According to the files included in the dossier, she had three city blocks to go before she got to the place she needed to be. She noticed as she walked, that there were two types of people, people ogling the skyscrapers, and those looking straight ahead, aggressively brushing aside the ogglers. Zelda looked straight ahead, but was polite, issuing "pardon me"'s and "excuse me's" to each person she bumped, not an easy task seeing how many people were condensed into this small area. And what's worse, some even snickered with laughter as she apologized for bumping into them!

 _The nerve of them!_ Zelda thought, _At least my people are more polite than this._

After what seemed like an eternity, a shop caught her eye.

 **Ryu's Japanese Shop**

 _Ah! According to the dossier, this is the place!_ Hyrule's princess thought.

Pushing against the crowd, more aggressively this time, she opened the door to the shop. A bell dinged, and two people seated at the checkout counter looked towards her. One was a muscular woman with a blond, pixie haircut, wearing a black. The other, a man, with handsome features and finely combed brown hair.

"How can we help you?" said the woman,

Zelda looked around. Lining the walls and shelves were ancient-looking masks and weapons, probably associated with Japanese culture. Zelda bit her lip. The thought briefly came to mind to express interest in buying something, just for the sake of a good open, but in truth, nothing in the shop interested her,

"Are you Ryu Hayabusa sir?" Zelda asked the man.

"Yes, how may I help you, young lady?" Hayabusa asked as the woman put a stick of bubble gum in her mouth,

"My name is Zelda, and I represent a fighting tournament called the…"

"Listen," interjected the woman in between obnoxious chomps of her gum, "I don't know how you found out about Ryu, but he isn't some LARPer, okay?"

"Irene, please don't be rude to our guest…" Ryu began, but Irene cut him off.

"Ever since we opened up this place, it's been nothing but LARPers and fat sweaty guys looking for anime tapes…and…what do they call 'em? Ya know those kids that wear all black and listen to The Cure?"

"Goths?" offered Hayabusa.

"YEAH! It's clear you're some goth punk from Manhattan on daddy's money, Well, we ain't interested in that, so you need to leave."

"Please!", Zelda pleaded, "I…"

Suddenly, the bell rang again. Three tan-skinned men walked up to the counter. They were identically dressed, in leather jackets with popped collars, jeans, and spotless sneakers, but while the two bigger men sported short black hair, the short one had hair so inexplicably greased that Zelda could see the light reflect off of it.

"James, what do you want?" Irene asked, venom in her voice,

"Ey Johnny, you see how this lady talks to payin' customers. Real bad customer service if you ask me," shouted the small one.

"Yeah James, really sorry stuff," agreed one of the bigger men, the one on James' right.

"Except you never have bought anything…" Hayabusa began,

"Oh, like anyone else has?" James interjected.

"And," Ryu continued, matching Irene's venom from earlier, "Every time you have come here, you've been informing us to pay for protection, which I have said, time and time again, we do not need."

"Look, man, I know, I know, but I'm just tryna keep my boss happy. My boss ain't happy, he takes it out on us, we have to come back and take it on you Kapeesh?"

"Out. Now," hissed Irene,

" _Pisan,_ I'm getting real tired of these friggin…" rambled the other heavy, whipping out a gun and pointing it at Zelda,

Zelda focused, and before everyone's eyes, she changed into Sheik. She whipped out her chain, cracking the knuckles of the hand that held the gun.

"AGH!" screamed the man, holding his thoroughly broken hand, "SHE BROKE MY FRIGGIN HAND!"

" Chucky you idiot! You're the one who pulled on a gun on her!" James shouted

"EY! NOBODY DOES THAT TO MY BRUDDAH!" bellowed Johnny,

He took a running start at Sheik, only for her to hook kick him square in the jaw, knocking him out. James went for a gun of his own, only for Ryu to flick a throwing star at him without turning to look at him, causing it to connect with the small man's shoulder.

"AGH! FUCK!" he screamed, bolting out of the store, with Chucky offering a shoulder to a woozy Johnny as they ambled out.

"Huh," Irene said, "Didn't even have to get my gun out, you ain't so bad after all."

"But…you transformed…" Ryu said, now able to let his shock show.

"Yes, and I'm aware that you have experience with similar elements of the fantastic?" asked Zelda, now in her deeper Sheik voice,

"Yes. And I'm assuming in addition to this tournament you speak of, you need my skills for something else as well?"

Sheik nodded, "I'm going to open a portal to another dimension and you need to come with me."

Ryu nodded, but Irene spoke up, "Hey! What about…?"

"Oh, your invitation to be a member of the audience will come in a week or so," said Sheik.

Sheik pressed a button code into her wristwatch, and the portal open. Irene leaned over and pecked Ryu on the cheek, "Knock 'em dead babe."

Ryu nodded, following the princess turned ninja into the portal. Upon exiting, three men in similar green tunics and caps were stood in the foyer of an enormous mansion of which they all now stood. The tallest of the green tunic group hugged Sheik, "How'd your recruitment go?"

"Got the guy," said Sheik, transforming back into Zelda, "Ryu Hayabusa, meet Link, Link, meet Ryu Hayabusa."

Link offered a hand, which Ryu shook, "Charmed. I'm a friend of Zelda's. I've had to save her from evil a few times," said the Hero of Hyrule, which made Zelda blush.

"You had to _save_ her?" gawked Ryu, "Good lord, I shudder to think what kind of evil could do you in Zelda."

The green tunic wearing boy who looked to be from a cartoon spoke up, "A few halls down actually."

"What?" gasped Ryu

The other boy, who appeared to be a younger version of Link interjected, "But we're all friends now."

All Ryu could muster was an "Eh?" which caused Zelda, and the two younger boys, to giggle.

Link spoke through a smirk, "There's a lot to digest. Here, let me take you to your room. I think you're rooming with Greninja."

Ryu nodded as he, Link, and the two younger boys began to walk up the grand staircase.

Suddenly, the cartoon boy whipped around, "Hey Zel, ya coming?"

Zelda shook her head, "No, I haven't had the time to eat yet. Do you know if Daisy actually saved my food or just ate it?"

The look-alike to Link grinned, "I think she saved it this time! I saw it in the kitchen fridge just before you showed up."

"Oh good," breathed Zelda, "Because if not, she and I were going to have words in the arena," said the princess as she headed off towards the kitchen.

Ryu simply waved goodbye as the green tunic trio, Link in front, the two boys in back, aided his trip to the bedrooms.


	30. Origins: Travis Touchdown

**Origins: Travis Touchdown**

 **Conference Room A**

Slowly, Altair opened the door. Force of habit supposed the assassin. Shutting the door as gingerly behind him, he saw that…machine ROB standing there, doing nothing. On the table in front of ROB was a picture of a young man, with a few sentences inscribed underneath it. Eying the picture with a disgusted, sour expression, he growled, " _This_ is the man you want me to recruit? He looks like a vagrant."

ROB suddenly spoke, "He is Travis Touchdown, a great assassin. Therefore you were chosen to recruit him."

Altair let a grunt of disapproval, "When you attempted to contact me on this infernal machine, I had assumed you had wanted me to recruit a family member or a member of my Order. Not some…ne'er-do-well."

"This is the recruitment you were given. I would suggest you do it with no further complaint or infraction. Mario has been quite busy, and irritating him with insubordination would not benefit you or I."

"Infraction? I make a comment about the man's style of dress and that was an infraction?"

"No. Your infraction was not responding to messages when prompted."

Altair's nose wrinkled, "Oh, you mean this infernal machine? I do not know how to use it."

"I anticipated this. Here."

After a moment of silence, the center screen, which was normally black, changed to a navy blue.

"Your watch is on Easy Mode. Just speak to it, and it will do as you command. You are needed down at the portal room."

Altair nodded, briskly leaving the room, and slowly closing the door. As he strode out of the conference area, and into the main lobby, he noticed a throng of people heading up the staircase to the bedrooms. Looking over to the front entrance, he saw several Smashers sitting around a firepit. Altair grinned, maybe he'd go join them after this. Looking up to the stairs one last time, he saw Quinn heading down the stairs, a perturbed look on his face. Immediately Altair called, "What troubles you, Quinn?"

"Don't go back up to the room dude," said the Mii Brawler

"Why?" asked Altair.

"K-Pop dance party."

"What?"

"Does Korea exist in your time?"

"No."

"Do you drink?"

"Do not ask questions you already know the answers to boy."

"I'm just saying," Quinn said, When I explain K-Pop to you, you might start."

"Is this Sans' doing?"

"Yes. Him, Dante, a couple of the girls from the Phantom Thieves, Ken, Chun-Li, Saki, and Yoshi are having a rave. It's really crowded in there."

"Fortunately, I will be far away from that nonsense for a while. I've got recruitment to do."

"Ah," Quinn said, "Good luck, I'll save you a spot by the fire pit."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Bidding his roommate farewell with a wave, Altair headed to the Portal Room.

 **Santa Destroy, CA, 2010**

Whatever witchcraft emptied Altair on to this foreign world, they were nice enough to deposit him onto the roof, casting a quick look down to see what awaited him if he fell, he saw the building that he stood upon was grimy and made of haphazard materials.

 _The churches of my homeland will stand for centuries. I doubt this place will be standing a year from now._

Altair shook his head. He had to cast such errant thoughts out of his mind. He knew his mission. Wait for the target.

Minutes passed, then hours. Perhaps it was to distract from the industrial smell that polluted the air, but he couldn't help but observe the occupants of the building. Judging by people's casual state of dress, this was a building where multiple people lived. Couples fighting, people smoking what smelled like cheap opium, and a rather shady looking man occasionally knocking on doors and arguing with the people Perhaps the lord of this land? It was during one of these interactions, that he heard something roar. On some sort of angular transportation machine, his smug, vagrant target pulled onto the estate. Holding onto him was a beautiful blond woman dressed in all white. Altair's target got off of his machine to speak to the landlord.

"Mr. Redondo, I'd like a room for a while."

"Well, I'll be. Mister Assassin himself. Lucky fer you your old room is open. When I mention you, my celebrity alum, it turns people away! Guess people don't wanna sit where the golden nuggets once sat you know?"

"I've got the 500 dollars first month's rent and deposit, just give me the room you old pervert." Travis snapped, while his woman grinned impishly,

Altair frowned. That was his cue.

"Travis Touchdown! I challenge you!"

Altair jumped down from the roof, landing perfectly at Travis' feet.

"Aw, shit! This again! Touchdown you sumbitch you'd better pay me double," screamed Mister Redondo

"Deal," growled Travis.

"Goddamn, this is worse than when I owned tigers in Oaklahoma. Git 'im hot stuff," said the landlord.

"Thanks, I guess," huffed Travis, "Sylvia, get up to the room."

"Sure thing, my hero. I'll keep the bed warm," said the woman, Sylvia in a vaguely European accent, working her way towards the stairs.

It was at that point Altair drew his sword. Travis drew his sword, some sword of light, powered by machines.

"Heh, old school eh?" Travis smirked, eying the sword up and down, "Whelp, at least this'll be quick."

Each man swung their sword, clashing off of each other. Travis' expression was one of shock

"How'd that sheet metal survive that?" scoffed Travis.

"It was crafted by magic that you would not understand vagrant," hissed Altair.

"Call me that again and I'll…"

Altair took the moment of hesitation to kick Travis in the knee. The sudden impact of the blow caused Travis to fall forward, his face connecting harshly with the pavement. Altair went in for a stabbing blow, but Travis spun to his feet, kicking Altair in the hand as he did. The assassin reeled back. Travis leaped into the air, jutting forward. When he was in arm's reach, Altair twisted his arm around his back.

"You have skill boy," growled the assassin, "But you lack tact and technique. You are far too brash."

"Ha! Brash? I'll show ya brash!"

Travis spun around Altair, locking his hands to be fully extended upward, and then lifting him with a bridge to send Altair backward headfirst. Travis began to saunter over to the downed, seemingly motionless Altair, but when Travis was in striking range, Altair sliced him with a sword across the chest, slicing his shirt, but not deeply enough to draw blood.

"Do you have any idea how long I had to wait to get this shirt shithead?" whined Travis, "I got it imported from Japan and now it's ruined!"

Altair struggled to his feet, "I could have easily gone for the jugular. However, assassinating you isn't my goal."

Altair hastily reached into one of his pouches and pulled out an envelope, throwing it on the ground. Travis picked up the envelope, his eyes suddenly going wide, "This crest? Are you…?"

"A member of the Super Smash Brothers? Yes. You've been invited to take part in the tournament, and the heroics we do, though why is beyond me."

"Yeah yeah, so I didn't learn how to kill people in a place that didn't even have plumbing. Get over it," moaned Travis, "Anyway, can you take me to the Smash place?"

"Should you not tell your woman where you're going?"

"Oh, right," Travis said, "SYLVIA! I'M GOIN' ON A JOB!"

"TAKE CARE MY HERO!" called Sylvia,

Altair rolled his eyes, before speaking into his watch, "Take us to the mansion."

And both he and Travis both disappeared.

 **Smash Mansion**

When Altair and Travis appeared in the mansion, he saw the spawns of Bowser, the Koopalings, huddled in a circle, snickering. The lone girl, Wendy was the one that spoke up, "Oh, emm, gee, it's him."

"Yes yes, you stand in the glory of Travis Touch..."

"Not you moron, the assassin," Bowser Junior squealed, "You should see it Altair, Mama Peach is about to reem Sans and the partiers."

"Well I'm always down for a good reaming, what about you?" said Travis.

Altair grinned impishly.

"Alright, let's go!"

 **Altair, Sans, and Quinn's room**

The first thing Altair noticed, besides the seething Peach and horribly disappointed looking Mario, both dressed in pajamas, was that Sans room was trashed. The blonde and the orange-haired girl appeared to have faces full of whipped cream, and Yoshi appeared to be laying on the floor with a budging belly. The rest seem to be just looking guilty.

"FURTHERMORE," ranted Peach, "A PIE EATING CONTEST? AS IF THIS DANCE PARTY WASN'T A SAFETY HAZARD ENOUGH, YOU ADD DESSERT INTO IT?"

"So…,much…pie," wheezed Futaba.

"You and me both," grumbled Yoshi.

"I mean, I'll be the first to admit that this party got a bit _too_ crazy," Dante said,

"Yeah, like, we just wanted to eat pizza in bed but the more people joined in the radder the ideas got," Sans explained,

"THAT IS NOT A DAMN EXCUSE. YOU ARE A MEMBER OF ADMINISTRATION SANS. AND YOU YOSHI, YOU'RE AN ELDER STATESMEN!" screamed Peach

"Woah, did Peach just cuss?" Ken asked the room, bewildered.

"Not the point here," hissed Mario, "Instead of enjoying the weekend, you guys just earned yourself Cruel Brawl repetitions until you can knock out one guy. Futaba, Ann, you'd better tell Joker and Akechi, they're doing yours on your behalf. If you aren't Cruel Brawling, you're in your rooms all weekend. Dismissed," said Mario as, he and Peach turned on their heels, brushing passed Altair and Travis. Suddenly Mario stopped,

"Ah, you must be Travis," said the leader of the Smash Bros.

"OH MY GOD, IT'S TRAVIS TOUCHDOWN! I LOVE YOUR G-" Futaba said, cut off when Ann put a hand over her mouth and led her out of the room.

"So," Mario began, "You're rooming with Roy. I can take you there if you'd like."

Travis shrugged, "No problem," as he and Mario left as well.

As people began to leave the room, Yoshi announced, "No regrets, got free pie."

"Bro, same," Sans and Dante said simultaneously

After a pause, Dante said, "Well, I better get going. We should totally do this again bro."

"Yeah bro, totally," Sans agreed

Dante walked away from Sans, first helping Yoshi to his feet, and then leading him out of the room.

"Dude, you totally missed a party," said Sans to Altair.

Altair grunted his disapproval and left the room.

 **Outside the Smash Mansion**

"Ah, you saved me a seat after all."

Quinn looked up from the campfire to see Altair standing beside him. Altair being a light stepper meant these kinds of things happened often, and Quinn had only been at the mansion a few days.

"Is the room safe?" Quinn asked.

"Yes. Peach and Mario gave him quite the talking to."

Quinn smirked, "I know, the Koopalings basically told everyone."

Now it was Altair's turn to smirk, The two spent the rest of the night watching the fire in silence, taking in the merriment and joy that went on around them.

(AN: Next chapter, the Ice Climbers go to River City)


	31. Origins: The River City Girls

**Origins: The River City Girls**

 **River City**

"Let's get out of here," groaned Riki, the black-haired hero of River City

"I'm starving, let's get a Merv Burger, you girls wanna join us?" asked Kunio, the other half of hero the heroic duo of River City asked.

Their two girlfriends, the bubbly Kyoko and the brash Misako couldn't have been happier. The fewer questions that were asked about why they'd dropped in on the boys' spa day, raving about them being kidnapped, the better. Wordlessly, the two girls wrapped their arms around their boyfriends, heading to the group's favorite Merv Burger location, the girls discreetly fist-bumping as they walked. However, if they had paid a bit more attention, they would've seen a duo of parka-wearing children, one clad in blue, the other in pink, leaping from building to building, tailing them from a safe distance behind…

 **Merv Burger, Crosstown, sometime later,**

"YOU DID WHAT?" shrieked Kunio,

Misako immediately facepalmed. Of course, Kyoko had accidentally let it slip that they had taken out Sabu's daughter and her henchmen today. Of course she had. Now, the date was ruined.

"So you just… decided we were kidnapped?" Riki quietly grumbled.

"BUT WE GOT A TEXT!" shrieked Kyoko, thrusting her phone into Kunio's hand, who had to wobble the Diet Spite he was actually holding to recover it.

Quizzically, Kunio thumbed through her texts. Most of which were from mutual acquaintances pointing them in the right direction, with addresses included. He would have to remember to hit each of them with the Spinning Piledriver later for this nonsense.

Finally, he found it. A text that simply read, "Riki n' Kunio r kidnapped lawl," from an anonymous number no-less.

"So, you got a text from an anonymous text from someone just _saying_ we were kidnapped, and so you…" Kunio trailed off intentionally, to let one of the girls finish.

"We took down a criminal empire!" shouted Misako excitedly,

"As one does," mumbled Riki, covering his mouth to hide the smirk forming from it.

"You didn't stop to think it was a prank?" asked Kunio, his voice betraying absolute bewilderment now, "From Mami and Hasabe perhaps?"

The girls looked at each other, "Oh my God" said the duo simultaneously.

Riki was openly snickering at them now, shaking with laughter. Kunio's expression was just blank, now slack-jawed with shock. Riki spoke up after getting his not so subtle crack-up over the situation our of his system, "Think of it this way Kunio, we probably would've had to have dealt with Sabuko if they hadn't. That gives us six months to hit the gym while those idiots scramble."

"I mean yeah," said Kunio, finally acting normal again, "You did save us a ton of trouble. That's why you're our girls, right Rick?"

"Yeah, completely," said Riki, his eyes now soft and loving.

"Awww, Ricki-poo…" cooed Kyoko.

"Heh," smirked Misako, "I'll take my reward in the newest Blue Japan Puroresu DVD."

"This year's best Best of the Superheavyweights Tournament right? That's doable. I'll even throw in a Hiromu Tanahashi shirt for your trouble, cause you're the Ace Bomb of my heart."

"God, you're such a dork, but I love ya, and that's what matters," said Misako, an uncharacteristic sweet smile on her face.

"God, you're both dorks" Riki chided, playfully shaking his head.

"I know right?" Kyoko joined in.

Just as the foursome shared a hearty giggle. the doors to the Merv burger flung open, aggressively smacking the walls nearest to them. As the heroes of River City looked up, registering the commotion, their table levitated into the air, sliding directly into the boys, as both table, Kunio, and Riki slid helplessly to the opposite wall, taking out pedestrians in their unwillingly wake the table pinning the male contingent of the group to the wall. As the girls swung into action, they were flung to the ceiling. It was then that Misako noticed the purple-haired, shadow aura wielding punk causing the commotion,

"Oh God, it's Yamada."

"That creep?" asked Kyoto, "What could he want?"

"I'm sure if you give him five seconds he'll start monologuing."

"ATTENTION RESIDENTS OF RIVER CITY…" bellowed Yamada.

"And there it is." Misako groaned, rolling her eyes.

"And there you are," sneered Yamada, "Snarky even in the face of my great psychic power."

"Sir, this is a Merv's," whined a pimply-faced employee from behind the cash register, who's mouth was promptly covered with a telekinetically manipulated slice of lettuce

"Any more interruptions from you fools? I mean, lord knows you've probably got something stupid to say Misako."

"Nope, fresh out of quips for now," said Misako, "Get on with whatever you're gonna say.."

"Yeah!" agreed Kyoko, "The longer this goes, the flatter my soda's gonna get!"

"As I was saying," hissed Yamada, "You girls messed up my payday. But, you also created a power vacuum, and the only one powerful enough to take advantage of it is ME, the great YAMADA! The first thing on my list of to-dos is…"

"Do your laundry?" asked Kyoko.

"No, to take you out, to avoid a repeat performance."

With a dismissive wave of the hand, the girls were suddenly freed from the ceiling, hanging in the air. Suddenly, they were hoisted upside down.

"Prepare girls, for the ultimate Tombstone Piledriver. May you…rest…in….peace."

"Ugh, an Overtaker reference? 1991 called, it wants its wrestling reference back!" whined Misako.

"Can't you at least come up with a little something more modern? Like the Bomb Ace?" asked Kyoko.

"Trust me, honey," Yamada growled, "The only thing that's going to be a bomb is what your heads splatter on the floor of this fast-food restaurant!"

As Yamada began to snicker to himself, suddenly the large bay windows of the establishment exploded as two children in parkas, one in blue, and one in pink, kicked their way through it. Without a word, the two children simultaneously used ice breath to freeze each of Yamada's hands. As The River City Girls fell, the children leaped into the air, the blue-clad one grabbing Misako, and the pink-clad one grabbing Kyoko out of the air and landing them back safely unto the ground.

At that moment, Yamada broke through the ice, "Ah, so a couple of Eskimos have come to join the fight eh?"

"Actually, we prefer the term Inuit," quipped the one in blue.

"Not the time Popo, get into position," barked the one in pink.

"Right, sorry Nana," said Popo.

The two stood back to back, their hammers out in front of them.

"SQUALL HAMMER" they both shouted

They began to spin at an alarming rate towards Yamada, who immediately brought his hands up to block.

"KYOKO, follow me!" shouted Misako.

The two girls were stepping in synch now. Misako jumped into the air, Kyoko following suit. They both jumped off of the parka wearing duo's heads and executed a perfectly synchronized Double Dropkick. The force of the blow sent Yamada's forearms, which were up to block, colliding with his nose, which immediately broke it. In landing from the dropkick, Kyoko managed to roll behind Yamada, so as he turned, staggering from dizziness, Kyoko kicked him in the crotch, clasping his jaw with both her hands, turning around, and sitting down. The force of the blow sent Yamada staggering, this time into Misako, who effortlessly hoisted Yamada onto her shoulders in a sitting position, throwing him down on the ground.

"Ahhh, Stun Gun into a Powerbomb. Such a fun combo to hit," giggled Misako, wearing a vibrant smile, feeling the adrenaline

"I KNOW! The Leaping Nuke Guardians ain't got NOTHIN' on us!" whooped Kyoko.

"God Riki, how did we ever get so lucky?" dreamily sighed Kunio, who'd been watching the whole scene along with Riki.

"Honestly, I wonder that at least twice a day," remarked Riki as he helped Kunio move the table that pinned them to the wall.

"The Buff Twins are right, we need to learn cool stuff like that," remarked Popo.

"I agree," said Nana with a warm smile, "Girls, I'm Nana, he's Popo."

"Yo!" said Popo with a playful salute, "We want to invite you to a fighting tournament."

"That sounds like it rocks, count us in!" Misako cheered

"I agree!" said Kyoko with equal enthusiasm.

"And," said Nana, "We double as a peacekeeping taskforce, and so to bolster our roster with talent on that end, we're inviting auxiliary members, who have full use of the amenities. Riki, Kunio, do you want to come along. We're all going to be sharing a three-bedroom suite,"

"Dope, we're in! Riki?" asked Kunio,

"Sounds fun. We're in."

"Excellent, welcome to the Super Smash Brothers," Nana said.

Nana typed in a code, and the six stepped through the portal, to a silent mansion in the dead of night.

"Why's it so quiet?" whispered Kunio,

"Because it's nighttime, dummy," snapped Misako

"Smash exists in its own dimension and has its own timezone. It's pretty weird when you think about it."

"Yeah, we've been recruiting all day, and you guys were the last one. You'll have the weekend to get acclimated, and then the training begins."

"Why were we the last?" asked Kyoko

"Because we're the coolest!" quietly cheered Misako.

As they had done on the walk to Merv Burger, the girls fist-bumped, their respective beaus on their arms, except this time on the descent up the staircase. With their arrival, ROB cataloged the final open slot from the control room. The greatest roster in the history of Smash Brothers was completed. Everyone was here.

(AN: Hooray! We're finally done with Origin chapters! It's been a year and a half, but we made it gang! The first arc is done! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read. Thank you to my friends at the Super Smash Prose, the best SSB Fanfiction server on the planet (the link is QYdhYnM come join us) for inspiring me and pushing me on. But if this sounds like the end, baby you ain't seen nothin' yet. Our next arc will be a two chapter mini-arc The Weekend, then we'll get into the much-fabled Physics Week, and then the tournament will truly begin! Things will only pick up from here, so read and review on! Special thanks to Plissken the Serpent for jumping in with a last-minute beta editing job.)


	32. The First Weekend: Part 1

**The First Weekend: Part 1**

 _Bzzt bzzt bzzt_

Quinn rolled over in bed, grabbing his communicator from off the nightstand. The text that had caused the device to activate was from Mario, and it bore one sentence

 **Everyone is here, all-hands meeting, 15 minutes,**

Quinn mulled the word "everyone" around in his head a few times. He had noticed there were increasingly more new faces in the last few days, especially at the firepit. Grabbing his sunglasses and tucking them into the collar of his sleep shirt for safekeeping and heading to the bathroom for a quick brush of his teeth, he recalled the outing at the firepit. It had turned into something of a musical exhibition, with the bear and the bird first pulling out a banjo and then a kazoo. Toon Link had joined in, somehow using a conducting wand to make music from nowhere, and Zelda had accompanied him on the harp, which led to Young Link pulling out his ocarina, Donkey Kong bringing his bongos, and Diddy Kong of all people laying down the lyrics in a very wholesome freestyle jamboree, while the others clapped along. He hadn't had that much fun in a long time and hoped it was a sign of things to come.

Brushing his teeth quickly, and spitting out the water, he opened the door to see Altair leaving, "Hey," called the Wuhu Island resident, "You seen Sans?"

Altair poked his head back into the room to say, "Probably attending to his administrator duties for once," before truly leaving the room, letting the doors close behind him.

As Quinn walked down the hallway, he saw some of the other Smashers murmuring with excitement.

"What do you think this announcement could be about?" asked Torri, who was walking with her roommate Green.

"If what Red has said before is any indication. It's Physics Week."

"Augh…what's that? Physics was always my worst subject in school."

Captain Falcon, who was behind them, interjected, "Don't fret young lady, the name is pretty misleading. Think of it more of an opportunity for training on how to be a Smasher."

"Woomy! That I can do!" cheered Torri

"If you don't mind me asking, why's it called Physics Week?" Green asked.

"Because the physics is different every tournament. Gravity mostly." Quinn interjected, on autopilot.

The two women just looked at him as if he'd spawned a second head. Quinn felt himself shrinking from embarrassment.

"Sorry, I literally went to school to be a Smasher and uh…" bashfully said the Mii Fighter

A boisterous laugh came from Falcon as they got in the line to descend the grand staircase, "No problem showing what you know young man!" said the F-Zero racer,

"Thanks, I guess," mumbled Quinn as they advanced ever further in line.

"Seriously, don't overthink this stuff. You're a student, so reciting knowledge is kind of your thing right now. But, I think the more experience you get as a fighter, the more you'll learn to think on your feet."

"You're probably right. I just hope I get there fast enough to win some matches."

The line was advancing, the doors were in sight.

Again, Falcon laughed, "It's a work in progress pal!"

"We uh… didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything by the way." Green whispered apologetically just loud enough for Quinn to hear, with Torri nodding in agreement.

"It's not you guys, it's just a hang-up I have to work on," Quinn said, returning the nod.

Now, it was time for Green, Torri, and Quinn to push through the doors. Quinn felt his breath catch in his throat as he observed the sight before him beyond the doors. The most imaginative surrealist painter couldn't produce an image so strikingly bizarre. Humanoids, animals, humanoid animals, and a few Quinn would classify as somewhere in between all stood at in the main hall of the Smash Mansion, spilling out into it once they descended the staircase.

Suddenly, Quinn was snapped out of his bewilderment by a shove to his back. Quinn felt his center of gravity being off shifted, with the possibility of falling down a flight of stairs feeling very real, and very frightening. Luckily, Quinn was able to catch his balance.

"MOVE JERK!" screamed Wario,

Quinn rolled his eyes as he began to descend. As he headed down, it became apparent to him that he had been so wrapped up in all the excitement that he'd failed to notice the ever-present cloud of rot behind him that was Wario.

"Awww, he didn't fall," whined the cloud of rot.

"Ha! You couldn't do it! You owe me 20 coins!" shouted the voice of Porky somewhere behind him.

As Wario grumbled in defeat, Quinn took his place near the front of the ensemble, next to Ridley and Dark Samus.

 _What is it with me and villains today?_ Quinn wondered internally.

Ridley growled, his metal teeth angrily clashing with each other as he did, "What could possibly be so important? In the time it takes this circus to get everyone together, I could've traveled megaparsecs," The Cunning God of Death whined, the metallic parts of his mouth clanking as his mouth moved.

Dark Samus only growled in what Quinn thought was agreement.

The final group of Smashers descended the staircase, Chrom (who was dressed in his pajamas, frantically yelling something about getting up late), King K. Rool and his guards (who wordlessly shoved past Quinn and the others behind him), and Pichu (who eagerly scurried up Quinn, settling upon his head, much to Quinn's enjoyment.) Then, Shulk, Sans, Marth, Otis, Mikey, ROB, Marth, Peach, and then Mario filed out one by one, with Mario standing in the middle of the group at the top of the staircase, with the other administrative team members stood at his sides. Mario tapped what appeared to be a wireless mic, and the room fell silent.

"What can I say? Smashers, everyone is here!"

The room cheered simultaneously. Even Ridley had a grin on his face at that.

"So, now that we're all settled, I'm going to run down the preliminary schedule. The next 48 hours are free time. You can do whatever you wish to do on the Mansion property. Then, we have Physics Week, which is an opportunity for our new members to train on the stages that we'll be using in the tournament, so they can get an idea for how fighting in a Smash arena feels. Veterans, this is a good opportunity to either set up informal training sessions with our newcomers or, if you feel like you want to hold a more formal seminar, please let someone in Administration know by the end of the weekend. I've reached out to a few of you already about a seminar, so just await further instructions on those. Both informal and formal are limited to eight Smashers per stage, and signup sheets go out at dinnertime at the end of the weekend. Also, I should say that Smash City is off-limits until Physics Week because that's when we're moving in the vendors, as well as finalizing housing accommodations. That said, Miss Trainer is holding a cardio seminar at Ultimate Stadium, should that pique your interest."

"Miss Trainer?" whispered Quinn, hoping someone would hear him.

"He means Wii Fit Trainer you goon," Ridley sneered.

"What happens after Physics Week?" shouted Vector.

Mario grinned, "Everyone moves in, then we have the opening ceremony in the evening, and then the all-hands dinner, then the tournament is the next day."

A happy murmur echoed through the crowd, then suddenly Sans spoke up, "So, as some of you know, some of us got into some trouble last night."

"Yes," sneered Akechi from the back of the room, "Someone's girlfriend and surrogate sister got _us_ in trouble,"  
Joker, who was beside Akechi, while Ann, who was holding Joker's left hand, peaked around her boyfriend to flip off Akechi. Akechi simply rolled his eyes, causing snickers from a few.

"So," continued Sans, "For those of us, and we know who we are, that partied too hard last night, Cruel Brawl is on tomorrow until we each eliminate one guy. Today though, we're grounded! The question is, how will you kill the time? Me? I'm going to practice some Dvorak on trombone, ya know, to get amped."

 _And there goes the bedroom_ Quinn whined internally.

"Who of us is grounded?" asked Dante with an eager grin on his face

At this, Peach's face puffed up, likely to shout at the Son of Sparda, but all Mario had to do dissuade that was hold up a hand.

"You know you and me stuck it to the man." Sans began, pointing finger guns at a smiling Dante, " Besides us, Yoshi, Chun-Li, the Phantom Thieves, Ken, and Saki are all grounded."

"To add to what Sans said," spoke Peach with angry authority, "The sleeping areas are _not_ for loud parties. If you must have such a fracas, please use any other room in this mansion." Peach explained, intimidating authority spilling out of her every word.

"I just want to emphasize this, _any_ other room?" asked Wario, a Cheshire Cat-like smile spreading on his face.

"Ugh, she doesn't mean the bathroom, you idiot." Ness groaned from further back in the crowd.

"EY! SAY THAT TO MY FACE SHRIMP!" bellowed Wario, raising his fists as if to box.

"Calm down Wario, he just said…" Lucas tried to interject while Cuphead stood poised to back up his roommates,

"Wario, that's enough, unless you want to get in on the Cruel Brawl session this weekend," growled Mario, while Peach nodded in agreement.

"No…" Wario whispered, slumping back into the crowd to the giggles of a few, likely the same who had giggled at Akechi earlier.

"With that said, Marth?" Mario asked, nodding over to the Vice President

"Yes," Marth began, "We have decided to unveil the tournament bracket on Opening Day, to give everyone an even chance. Know this, however, that it is being designed to determine who was the best among fighting styles, and among each era of Smash, in addition to finding the champion among us all. Do you have anything to add Mario?"

" I haven't mentioned the prize money!" Mario said with a playful snap of his fingers, " The veterans already know this, but for our new people I'm going to explain the prize money scheme. So, as everything in Smash City is perpetually automated, there is-a no operating budget, so all the proceeds for-a stadium tickets and transportation can be distributed back to the fighters. And, considering the multi-dimensional tournament we have, coupled with the size of our stadium, our attendance is in the hundreds of billions."

"What?" Travis Touchdown protested, "There's no way!"

"Oh, but there is son," Captain Falcon piped in, "One of the major cities of my world has a population of 2 billion, and considering we can run shuttles to the Smash Dimension for dirt cheap, plus the fact that this place exists outside of time, means we get an enormous attendance from all of our worlds, plus some worlds Master Hand wanted to an extend an arm to."

"Not to mention rich folks who pay for their own accommodation," Samus interjected, "A bunch of Federation big wigs paid for their own party shuttle, all so they don't have to interact with the common folk if they don't want."

"Thanks, guys, couldn't have said it better myself," Mario continued, " So, first-round losers get a million Smash coins, second-round losers get two million, round three losers get four, round four gets eight, round five gets 16 million, semi-final losers get 32, runner up gets 64 million, and the champion gets the remainder of the pot, which can still amount to several billion if our attendance calculation is correct."

The murmurs of excitement that came next were from the newcomers, most of whom had never seen that kind of money before.

"Now," Mario said, bringing attentive silence to the room once again, "Do we have any questions?"

"Yes," piped up a tiny voice from within the crowd, The Villager, "Will vendors get paid the way as they were last time?"

"Oh! That's a great question," Marth said, "Yes. Some of you have vendors from your world coming and were interested to know how currency works. All currencies of the invited worlds and dimensions are valid, and vendors will be walked through the conversion rate at the tournament's end, when they 'cash out, as the terminology goes."

More murmurs, the only unique sound was Isabelle, who was standing next to Villager furiously dictating into a notebook.

"Ah, but you mentioned Smash Coins? How does that differ from the currency the vendors will be dealing with?" asked Chun-Li.

"Each coin is worth 1 million of any currency around the multi-verse." piped in Mikey.

"WHAT THE F-" screamed Kyoko, only for Misako to quickly put a hand over her mouth.

"Man, I'll never hurt for anime again!" barked Travis loudly

"Hey Dante, you might actually be able to pay off your debts," chided Vergil.

"Did you really have to bring that out in front of everybody?" moaned Dante,

"Now," Mario once again interrupted, his voice suddenly stern, "I hope you realize how amazing an opportunity this is. All we ask to keep things civil is that you follow our rules."

"Our very limited rules, for that matter," added in Peach.

"Yes. With that said, everyone who isn't under punishment is dismissed. Those of you who are, go to your rooms and await instructions for tomorrow Oh, and Master Chief, I need to speak to you in the Core Machine room."

Master Chief nudged his way through the crowd as Mario descended the stairs. The Spartan followed the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom to the catacombs.

Quinn followed the crowd who was headed outside Pichu still eagerly perched upon his head. From behind him, he heard Miss Trainer, shout, "Anyone who wants to get some cardio in at the stadium come with me,"

 _That doesn't sound like a terrible idea,_

With that, Quinn, Pichu, and a few others began the long trek to Smash Stadium.

 **Core Machine Room**

Mario and Master Chief wordlessly walked through the door of the Core Machine room. On one of the counters, two Polygon Team members were using miniature torching tools to tinker with something that looked like a small stadium floodlight.

"How's it-a going boys?" Mario asked,

"We are attempting to implement Shulk's design as you know," began one Polygon, " But the propulsion system is proving to be a problem. The amount of normal propulsion requires versus the size of the thing is proving to be difficult."

Mario nodded, "As Shulk said. You," he said, pointing to the Polygon that had not yet spoken, "Go get the toolbox with my name on it."

Without a word, the Polygon stood up to rummage through the low cabinets that resided below each counter space.

Master Chief crossed his arms, grunting with fascination, "Are you all craftsmen?"

Mario chuckled, "No, we just keep tools from each of our world available for DIY projects like this one."

"Which brings something to mind, why am I here?"

A smirk from The Boss, "In due time Chief."

As if on cue, the polygon emerged with a toolbox with a mushroom with eyes engraved its lid, as well as the name of its owner.

Mario opened it. What Chief saw caught him by surprise, flowers, mushrooms, stars, all with eyes, all given their proper storage space within the foam innards.

"Hm, I suppose," Master Chief said.

Mario raised an eyebrow, "Beg-a pardon?"

"Cortana wanted to know if your world operated on fairy tale logic," explained the Spartan.

Mario smirked, "Trust me, took me a while to get used to it myself, but it becomes second nature over time. Like these!"

Out of the toolbox, Mario pulled out a wing-shaped item, with the letter 'P' emblazed upon it in red. Pressing the wing onto the device, the item disappeared, the device growing wings.

"I agree with you Cortana, they can't be serious."

Mario shrugged, "I don't-a question it, I just do it."

Chief simply nodded, "Sound advice, but you haven't told us why we are here."

Mario held out his hand, "Give Cortana to me."

"No," growled Chief.

"I understand your reluctance, but you've encountered no resistance so far. Please, just-a trust me."

There was a pause, "Alright, for you. What is this meant to do?" Chief asked.

"Quite simply Cortana, it's meant to give you freedom of movement, as you had aboard _The Autumn,_ only better."

"Calm down," Chief snapped, seemingly speaking to Cortana, "That's what she wanted to know, and she is quite pleased."

Mario smiled, "As I can imagine. Hand her over."

Chief pressed a button on the side of his helmet The back protruded outward, and Chief pulled the chip containing Cortana out of the helmet completely, handing it to Mario. Mario stuck the chip in the back of the winged light, the light flaring to life and Cortana appearing before them, "I'm a real girl!" Cortana cheered.

Master Chief only grunted disapprovingly,

"What? I've always wanted to say that!" whined the AI.

"Cortana, I've been told that this can be controlled similarly to how you would navigate a ship you're on board," Mario explained

"So with thought then huh? Alright, let's try it."

The winged light fluttered up, following behind Cortana as she moved,

"Chief, Mario, this is amazing! Is this how humans walk around?"

"Yes. I'm glad-a you enjoyed it. You two are dismissed," Mario said, leaving through the door from which they came.

"I'm going to explore the property a bit Chief. You're welcome to come with if you want."

Chief simply nodded, Spartan and AI walking together to get back up to the main level.

 **Lobby**

Corrin couldn't help but smile as she saw the lobby desolate a few minutes after the meeting had adjourned. She had expected the lobby to be packed but deduced the weather being nice is what caused the opposite. She headed down the stairs, carrying in one hand a plastic bottle of sweet tea, and an encyclopedia under the opposite arm.

After descending the staircase, she gracefully sat in one of the comfy-looking chairs in the lobby, spreading the encyclopedia onto her lap, and examining the plastic bottle. Normally, she made tea for herself along with Peach and some of the other royals, but with the rushed affairs this morning, no one had had the time to make a pot.

Corrin unscrewed the cap from the bottle, taking a dainty sip, holding the liquid in her mouth, letting its flavors breathe. Corrin grimaced.

 _Too sweet_ she thought.

The princess of two kingdoms swallowed. It wasn't like she would ever waste food, she wouldn't make drinking such sweets a habit.

With that experiment over, she turned her attention to the encyclopedia. Books had been restocked in the mansion since she last visited the library in the days of the Duel tournament, which meant new encyclopedias to thumb through. Traditionally, the library was seldom used, the exception of which being when the more thorough of the Smashers wanted to research their opponent. The new books in the library this time appeared to be geared towards the lands of the newcomers. Reading encyclopedias had gained Corrin a few odd looks both here and at home, but it was something of a ritual at this point. She would typically thumb through an encyclopedia, make note of whatever subjects she found interesting, and read more detailed things from there. The reading she had on her lap this time had to do with the world Terry came from, specifically, The United States. She knew Mac was from a different version of it, and Ryu had traveled to his version regularly, but it hadn't appealed to her.

That was until she met Terry Bogard.

She couldn't think of a time before him in which she had met someone and been unable to stop thinking about them. Loud, yet soft-spoken when appropriate. Flamboyant, yet humble. Relaxed, yet disciplined. Brave, curious, adventurous, gorgeous like a man out of a fairy tale.

If only she could work up the nerve to have a conversation of substance with him.

Sure, they'd talked daily ever since he arrived via the text chatting function on their communicators, buy their talks never extended beyond pleasantries, and gossip about the goings-on. It reminded her of the glum days in the Northern Fortress, where any human interaction she had had from family was on a strictly need-to-know basis. So hardwired into her brain was way of life that, unless spoken to, she rarely ever spoke.

 _If I can't speak to him, I might as well learn about the culture that made him_ Corrin had reasoned in the library.

And so there she was, about to open her written gateway into a crush's world.

"Hey! Dragon lady!" a familiar voice shouted from the door leading to the cafeteria.

The hairs on the back of Corrin's neck stood up. Coming towards her was The Hungry Wolf himself, Terry Bogard, "Whatcha reading?" he asked as he neared her.

It dawned on Corrin then. Here she was, reading about a crush's home country, at no point did it occur to her that her crush had a chance of seeing her do it.

 _Legendary Dragons above, truly I am nothing more than an adolescent with a crush._

"O-oh, a book on your United States," Corrin stuttered.

Terry grinned at her, "And why's that?"

Corrin's cheeks felt hotter than the sun, Terry only grinned wider.

 _Dastard's got me dead to rights._

"I wanted to get to know your world better, as I was fascinated when I was there."

 _So why did you lie?_

"Well, we were in Mexico, which is a different country."

Corrin only blushed harder.

"But…" jokingly pondered the King of Fighters champion, "If you wanna know more, we could always go out to dinner when the city opens up, see if they have an arcade."

"Yes!" Corrin said, her excited declaration sounding like the squeak of a mouse.

"Glad you're looking forward to it. I am too. I can't wait to hear what you think about it US history."

"Y-yeah, me neither," Corrin stammered

Terry chuckled, Corrin's cheeks now so deeply blushed she theorized they could melt the coldest ice in Nohr.

"Keep readin' Dragon Lady," pointing at her with his thumb up, starting his way up the stairs.

When she was sure he wasn't looking towards her, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. If she didn't stow her heart soon, it might explode! It was only after she heard the grand doors shut that she opened her eyes, took a few slow, even breaths, and went back to her reading.

 **Kitchen**

It wasn't the first time they'd cooked together, but Meta-Knight still couldn't wrap his head around it.

He, King Dedede, Kirby, and Jigglypuff stood in the kitchen, making a feast for the rest of the Smashers tonight. Typically, the group wasn't required to eat together till Opening Day night, but Kirby could be rather insistent when he put his mind to something. This went double for food. Kirby had recruited the usual quartet, as he had done multiple times in the past. Even so, it never quite registered as the truth for Meta-Knight that this group could co-exist as a blended family. Three of them had engaged in battles for the future of their planet, together and on opposing sides. Jigglypuff had come into their lives a strange from another dimension, had fallen in and out of love with Kirby, in love with him, and through it, all counted them as the family they'd never had. And so, here they were, together, cooking like a family

"More veggies coming your way for the stew handsome!" said Jigglypuff

That snapped Meta-Knight out of his trance. Chopping the veggies with a freshly cleaned Galaxia without a second thought. Just as Meta-Knight felt his concentration slip again, a piece of the background noise in this whole affair, Dedede tenderizing an enormous cut of beef with his hammer, stopped. There was silence for several seconds before the King of Dreamland spoke up,

"I've been thinking about something."

"There's a shocker," teased Jigglypuff.

Under his mask, Meta-Knight smirked. Telling off your boss via your girlfriend was a nice ace in the hole to have.

Dedede only grunted in response before continuing, "How do y'all think the bracket's gon' be split up"

This caught Meta-Knight off guard. Marth had said that they were going to determine the best of each class, so did that mean…?

"Is there a chance we're gonna have to fight each other?" Kirby asked, his voice wrought with concern.

"Highly unlikely. In a field of 100 fighters guarantees of advancing far are non-existent."

Kirby smiled, squinting his eyes, agreeing with a bouncy "Mm-hmm!"

Jigglypuff spoke up next, "You guys are my family, and no tournament's ever gonna change that."

"So with that said, gimmie all ya got if we meet!" demanded Dedede.

"Expect no less sire," Meta-Knight nodded.

Jigglypuff and Kirby both gave happy, affirmative grunts. Suddenly, Jigglypuff snapped to attention, "Enough jibber-jabber! We have a stew to cook. That means you handsome," she said, pointing a nub at Meta-Knight, "No slacking!"

"Yes milady," grunted Meta Knight, doing his best to hide a wide smile.

 **Cafeteria**

Cloud Strife stared vacantly into his cup of black coffee, having a table to himself as the Smashers who hadn't gone back to bed after the meeting filtered in for breakfast. Ever since Sephiroth had joined the group, he hadn't been able to sleep, plagued by nightmares of Zack's death. But it was different than what piecing together his memories in the pool of Mako had yielded. In the nightmare, his friends had beaten Sephiroth right after leaving Midgar, and in doing so, it managed to undo some of the damage…including Zack's death.  
Cloud grimaced. After the Geostigma Crisis, he'd spent a few months in Cosmo Canyon, getting psychological guidance from the elders of Red XIII's village, and living off the land. In this time of hard work and self-reflection, he'd come to realize that defeating Sephiroth was the best possible solution he could've offered for the planet woes, and those that had died, Zack, Aerith, his friends, his family, Tifa's family, had not done so in vain.

Now, here he was, unable to sleep, fueled almost exclusively by caffeine, back where he started.

"Cloud?" a gruff voice asked,

He hung a glance over his shoulder. It was Snake walking towards him, also carrying a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, that's me. You Snake?"

"That's me." Snake said, a grin on his face.

Cloud waited until Snake took the seat opposite him, extending his hand, allowing Snake to shake it.

"I've heard quite a bit about you," Cloud said.

Snake grunted. Luckily, years of extended communication with Cid had taught him what good and bad grunts had sounded like. That was a good one.

"I could say the same about you, genetically modified warrior clone, pumped full of a dangerous substance. Confront the guy you were cloned from, and the government that made it all possible, and won. My kind of guy."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, noting the mercenary's tone. This wasn't the tone of a superfan who approached him on the street. This was the nonchalant tone of a man who'd lived it.

"Same shit happen to you?" inquired Cloud.

"Frighteningly so,"

And so, as Cloud sipped his coffee, Snake told Cloud his weaving tale, starting with his father fifty years ago, getting to the adventures he himself had experienced e and finally wrapping up with...

"And so after the Subspace thing, I decided to have Master Hand put me on ice until they needed me again because if I went back home they'd try to recreate all that I had prevented."

Cloud went to say something, but could only mutter, "Wow,"

Snake chuckled, "I get that a lot."

Cloud chuckled back, "Hey, at least I could beat up someone working for Shinra. You had to climb through a heating furnace just to give a computer a virus."

"But your guy Sephiroth blew up your version of the Solar System right? You win some you lose some I suppose."

Cloud let out a grunt. He saw a flash of realization in Snake's eyes. He could read grunts too.

"Hey," Snake asked, concern in his voice, "How're you holding up with him…here?"

Cloud cast his gaze to his coffee, "He hangs out on the roof, like the gargoyle he is, most of the time, so that's not the issue. Issue is I've been having some restless nights."

Snake nodded sympathetically, "Nightmares?"

Cloud returned the nod, "Super vivid ones too. Of events that I remember…but differently."

Snake rubbed his chin in thought, "Could be more than that."

"More?"

"Yeah. Link…"

"Trading old war stories are we gentlemen?"

Both men's gaze snapped towards the source of the voice as Peach strode up to them, teacup gracefully in hand, one of her Toad attendants following behind her.

"Yes and no," Snake explained, "Cloud here's been having nightmares, similar to the ones Link had way back when and has been ever since Sephiroth showed up."

"Hmmm. That's not good at all, but I believe it to be solvable," said Peach.

"You do?" asked Cloud.

"Yes. Zelda talked quite a bit about it when we first met at the Melee tournament. He was having those problems because Ganondorf used time travel to run afoul in his past, so he was having recollections of memories that he himself had not experienced. This place being in-between universes, occasionally you catch whiffs of things that may have happened to an alternate version of yourself."

"Do you think that's what's happening?" Cloud asked,

Peach giggled, "Darling, I'm far from a scientist, but please do message my dear Mario, and he can set up a consultation."

Cloud smiled, nodding, "Thank you Peach."

Peach smiled, "It's no issue at all dear!" said the Princess of the Mushroom kingdom, her voice kind and chipper, " I'm always here if you need someone to listen."

Again, Cloud nodded, "Something tells me I'll be taking you up on that sooner rather than later. But right now, I think I need to get somewhere quiet so I can write this out properly."

"Want a cigarette? You sound like you could use one," chided Snake

Cloud shook his head with a grin on his face, "Nah, one of my old teammates smokes like a chimney, now I can't stand the smell."

"Fair enough."

Slamming the rest of his coffee Cloud bid his friends a silent wave goodbye and headed out of the kitchen.

"So Snake," Peach asked, "How's your day going so far?"

Snake shrugged, pulling a flask out of one of his many pouches, pouring its contents into his coffee, and stirring it with a spoon, "Sonic and Isabelle are spending the day together."

Peach smirked, "And that drives you to drink?"

Snake rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "A bit, yeah. But all the drinks in our mini-fridge are something tropical from her world."

"Vacation Juice," Peach shuddered,

Snake stifled a chuckle, "You know?"

"Do I ever? The Villager made his own for the tournament afterparty last time. To say that myself and a few others got sloshed beyond repair is an understatement."

"The Villager made moonshine?"

"Is that what homebrewed alcohol is referred to as in your world? Then yes."

"Please tell me someone filmed it."

"I had them all destroyed by royal decree. But, I can't say the same for Cloud drunkenly proposing to Bayonetta."

"Oh my God."

"Falco has the master copy, talk to him."

Snake stifled laughter, "I'm going to, most certainly."

Suddenly, Peach's communicator went off. She quickly scanned the message before standing up to leave, "My apologies dear, but Mario needs me to lend him an ear over some tournament matters. I hope you don't mind."

Snake waved his hand dismissively, "Not at all. In fact, there's a certain blue jay I need to pay some money."

Peach giggled, "You have fun with that now! Adieu!" Peach said, striding out of the kitchen, tea in hand, her attendant scuttling behind her.

Snake slammed the rest of his coffee, making sure to note that even the stalest coffee here tasted better than the rations he was used to as he took his leave.

 **Game Room**

In the basement with only the soundproof Core Machine Room beneath it resided one of the most popular sections of the Mansion, The Game Room. While technically a singular room, had multiple side rooms used for various manners of recreation. However, the main room, with the enormous wood-paneled big screen was where most of the action was. Whether that be gaming, movies, or watching sports, when a group wanted to watch something, this is where they came. Today, however, the main event was a raucous conquest of a dancing game.

"GO WEEGEE! GO WEEGEE!" Daisy cheered, while Travis Touchdown, and River City quartet, watched further back on a couch, the couples snuggled together

The man in green, Luigi, was cutting a virtual rug on the Mario Mix of Dance Dance Revolution, and he was off to a hot start.

 _You can-come from- anyone can play_

The normally reserved Luigi stared transfixed at the screen. He had to break Bayonetta's record…he **had** to.

 _And we-will come- on the inside_

"It almost looks like he's button-mashing, but he's hitting everything," Travis announced, while Kunio shushed him,

 _And when-you get-right into the heart_

"YEAH! GET RIGHT INTO THAT HEART" Daisy cheered, Luigi's combo yet unbroken.

"I like how nobody shushes her," pouted Travis,

"When she does it, it's cute. When you do it. It sounds obnoxious." Riki growled, Misako snickering in response.

 _You know- there's no other way to cry_

 _Smile will bring the sunshine days_

The refrain had started. Luigi felt good about this run. This was his moment.

 _Comfort me tonight, with your wings tonight._

 _Smile will bring the sunshine days_

 _You come anyway, on the way you ride, on the way you riiiiiide._

The lyrics melted away, all that was left was him and the music. With almost lightning speed and mechanical precision, Luigi nailed every note exactly on time to the cheers of the onlookers. The refrain looped its first two lines. The change in lyrics had thrown Bayonetta off oh so briefly when she had eclipsed Marth's old high score. He wouldn't make that same mistake.

 _A chance,_

 _To have,_

 _Flying that way,_

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," screamed the onlookers at once, as Luigi nailed the fabled lyric change like it was nothing,

 _As I fly._

 _Across the distant sky,_

 _Smile will bring the sunshine days_

 _Comfort me tonight_

 _With your wings tonight,_

 _Smile will bring the sunshine days_

 _You come anyway, on the way you ride_

A break in the lyrics allowed Luigi to hear the cheers of his audience. But the respite was brief, and Luigi swung into action for the final stretch

 _Comfort me tonight, with your wings tonight,_

 _You come anyway, on the way you ride,_

 _You come anyway, on the way you ride._

The music stopped, and as the on-screen avatar of Mario flew the S.S Brass to Bowser's Castle. As the game played a cheering sound effect to denote a cleared level, the cheers of his friends were much louder.

"CAN I CALL YOU A DANCING MASTER?" the game's overzealous announcer asked as his score was tallied.

And that's when Luigi saw it. The blessed green text that read **High Score**. Without thinking. Luigi threw his arms up. He had done it!

The cheers were even louder now, realizing what he had done.

"The beast…hath been conquered," a winded Luigi declared.

Daisy threw her arms around Luigi in a bearhug, laughing and cheering as she did. Kyoko hugged Riki tighter at this, letting out a soft, "aww," as she did.

"Whelp, grats on that and everything, but this is getting a little too snuggly for my liking. I'm gonna go play pinball if anybody wants to join," Travis declared, getting up to leave.

"LOOK AT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR DARN DANCING GAMES!"

Every head in the room turned to the entrance as Mister Game and Watch ambled through, Pacman following behind,

"IN MY DAY," Game and Watch continued "IF YOU WANTED TO DANCE, YOU HAD TO GO TO A CLUB, AND HOPE SOMEBODY DIDN'T TRY TO DO THE CHARLESTON WITH YOUR GIRL."

"The Charleston? Jesus, how old are you?" snickered Travis,

"RESPECT YOUR ELDERS YOUNG MAN!" screamed Game and Watch.

"I mean, you are right, not having to go to a club is pretty groovy," interjected Pacman, his smooth, level voice radiating calm to the room, "You're Travis right? I'll take you up on that game of pinball man," said the yellow man.

"I'll try not to school ya too hard old man," snickered Travis,

"We'll school him for ya sir!" said Kyoko,

"No need young lady. Though, the last time I played pinball was at a prog rock concert in 1972. Woke up in a cornfield three towns over wearing someone else's gloves, and wearing of somebody's bellbottoms as a hat."

"How?" asked a deeply confused Misako,

"That's what happens when you accept a grilled cheese from a stranger."

Pondering that, the group all got up to go to one of the side rooms, leaving Daisy and Luigi to ponder all they had seen

"Seven Stars, I love this place," mused Luigi, a grin on his face.

"I loved watching you get a high score more," Daisy purred, her eyes fluttering flirtatiously.

"But-a baby, I'm tired."

"Oh? You're sure you wanna sleep?" Daisy said, laying on the sultry voice even thicker, and swatting Luigi lightly on the butt.

"Alright. You-a got me."

"Great! Then to your room, we go!" Daisy shouted, pulling Luigi by the hand out of the game room.

 **Roof**

Sephiroth was one of the first people to exit the Smash Mansion after the meeting, wordlessly leaping from the courtyard to his usual post on the roof. He fancied himself a watchman and didn't care what anyone thought of that. Mario and company must've known that too, as no one had complained to him.

It had given him time to understand the inner workings of this dimension. He quickly figured out that the weather changed so reliably he could set a metronome to it. That went for all other planetary functions too.

"Order, peace, resources. This is how it should be," muttered Sephiroth to himself.

Closing his eyes, letting his head boy Sephiroth allowed the alien feeling of relief to wash over him.

As if on cue, something interrupted his peace. The flapping of wings.

"Sleeping on the job are we?"

The voice was shrill and scratchy, so annoying that the sound scratched at his skull. The One-Winged Angel opened his eyes to find Ridley hovering at his level, his arms indignantly crossed.

Sephiroth merely scowled at him.

"Don't look at me like that," snapped the creature, "When I heard about your reputation, a sleeping pretty boy isn't what I expected.".

Sephiroth stepped back, allowing Ridley a place to perch. The beast did so.

"My reputation? What might that be?"

"Quite an extraordinary one if I do say so myself," cawed Ridley, a devilish grin forming on his face, "We have a few supposed villains on our roster, but only a few of us have ever done anything particularly evil. Your work is in line with mine. I killed a bunch of drifters, then I killed a bunch of bird people, and in doing so I killed the only two families Samus Aran ever had," finished the leader of the Space Pirates, cackling with laughter.

"I'm assuming because I killed Strife's parents, you see me as worthy?" Sephiroth asked, his tone flat and emotionless,

"Listen, if you shoot anything heated at a machine, some power source is bound to explode some way or another. But you? You burned down an entire town with no such power or allowances. That, my friend, is an artist paying attention to his work!"

"I see no art in it."

For a second, Ridley's maw hung agape, his eyes wide, before straightening back up, "Why not?"

" I allowed my emotions to control my thinking."

"So, you regret it?"

"No. One cannot have regrets. It is the weakness of a feeble mankind. However, one must be entirely focused on their ideals, and where the pieces may fall, that's where your allegiances lie."

"Oh, you're talking about this?" Ridley asked, gesturing to the grand mansion on which they stood, "That's why we're all here right because playing for the bad guys royally screwed us the last time?"

"Yes, but I have no intention of bringing harm to Cloud. You, you would kill anyone that annoyed you the very second that they did so. That's the difference between you and I."

Ridley snarled, "I thought you were made of sterner stuff. Very well. We'll see how far that philosophical grandstanding gets you in the tournament."

A small smirk tugged at Sephiroth's lips, "So we shall."

Ridley simply took off, flying into the horizon. Sephiroth let loose a sigh of relief. Now he could watch the sky in peace.

 **Courtyard**

Just below Sephiroth, a conversation was interrupted by Ridley's abrupt takeoff. Samus, Sonic, Bayonetta, Isabelle, all set around one of the tables in the courtyard, with Pikachu on Samus' shoulder.

"Hm. What do you think that was about?" asked Bayonetta, watching the Space Pirate take flight.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," growled Samus,

"But hey," Sonic said with a flippant shrug, "If the bad guys can't get along, that'll make our jobs a lot easier."

Samus only grunted, not taking her eyes off Ridley as he flew further and further away.

Pikachu let out a sympathetic "Chaaa."

Samus snapped out of her graze, grinning as she scratched her mouse companions where his ears met his skull, which caused Pikachu to let out a relaxed, peaceful breath, "I know I've got all of you buddy, and I'm thankful for that."

"Wait," Isabelle said, her pupils growing small with surprise, "You can understand him when he's not using his translator?"

Samus nodded, "I took him under my care after we all fought Tabuu. When you spend enough time with someone, you pick up their language and their nonverbals."

"Hey Belle," Sonic said to Isabelle, "I wonder if that means I'll pick up Animalese someday."

Isabelle blushed underneath her fur, "O-oh. Maybe," she stammered.

Bayonetta chuckled, "Why can't you blush like that when I tease you, Sam?"

Isabelle shrunk in her seat the call out. Samus, meanwhile, didn't even break from petting Pikachu to say, "Because you're not that good at it."

"I think it's more because you're a big strong warrior. Which is what I like…oh so much about you," Bayonetta flirtatiously purred

"So uh…" said an uncomfortably shifting Sonic, "You wanna see me run up the side of the Mansion Belle?"

Isabelle coughed, her latest breath sucked back into her lungs in shock, "I…that doesn't sound safe Sonic."

"I beat many a giant robot by throwing myself at them. I'll be fine!"

Sonic got up, stretching his legs, eying the building. Taking one last deep breath, Sonic bolted, jumping feet first at the building, zooming up as he landed. Flying past a throng of bedroom windows, he finally got up to the Mansion's roof, where Sephiroth stood.

"What on Earth?" asked the One-Winged Angel,

"Gotta speed keed. Remember, Team Chaotix is coming for ya!" he said, making finger guns as he dove off the building.

 _Okay, now here's the all-important dismount,_

Backflipping off the building, and tucking into a ball once the descent started, he noticed that the table at which his friends sat was coming in fast. He shifted his body, landing feet first on the table, immediately spotting Isabelle's shocked expression.

"Woah…that was so cool!" squeaked Isabelle

Sonic smirked, "Eh, it was nothing."

Samus chuckled, "The best part was the finger guns."

"Wait…you saw that?" asked Bayonetta

"Chozo DNA. I can see like a bird."

"You truly are fascinating Samus Aran," Bayonetta said, sighing dreamily.

"As are you Cereza," Samus said with a wink.

Bayonetta briefly sputtered, "Hey! Don't call me that while we're on the job!"

"This is work?" asked Isabelle, "This feels like a vacation."

"Well, it will be until the tournament starts, not to mention whatever the villains have cooked up," Samus explained.

"I'm concerned about that," Isabelle said, "I'm not a fighter like all of you."

"You wouldn't be here if we didn't think you could do it," Samus explained

Isabelle nodded happily, "Thank you, Miss Aran. I wonder if the other newcomers feel the same way, overwhelmed and anxious?"

"I'm sure. It can be overwhelming no matter who you are," explained Sonic.

Isabelle nodded again, "I'm sure you're right," said the secretary.

 **The Forest**

"So let me get this straight," began the Villager at the conclusion of Link's newest tale, "You can fuel your motorcycle with…apples?"

"Yeah, more helpful than the original Master Cycle Mario built for me, though I'll always be grateful to him for it," said Link.

"Pardon me but…what is a motorcycle?" piped up Erdrick from the back of the line.

He, The Links, Zelda, and Villager were walking through the forest to get to the river which ran through it, as it was Villager's favorite spot to fish.

"It's like…um…do you have Bunny Hoods where you're from?" inquired Young Link.

"' Fraid not," said Erdrick with a shake of his head.

"They are modes of transport. Think a horse-drawn carriage, but with no need for horses, and faster than a Rampage," Zelda interjected.

"What in the name of Xenlon?" gasped Erdrick,

"It'll become second nature in time," assured Toon Link, "Why, where I come from is almost entirely water, so I had to get used to the concept of excessive land travel itself "

The way Erdrick slumped back to a less-jagged neutral posture showed that a world of anxiety had been lifted off his shoulders, "Ah, so truly I am not alone."

"Truly!" responded Zelda and Young Link together,

"Hey Zel," Toon Link asked, "How did you know that, about Erdrick's homeworld?"

"I looked up the bestiary of his homeworld in the library when Link informed me of his arrival."

"Ah. I'll have to borrow it someday. I doubt I've seen every beast my world has to offer," Erdrick said with an appreciative nod.

"This is the place," suddenly spoke The Villager, who was leading the pack.

And so, it stood before them, a well-built deck, presiding over a crystal clear lake. Birds and bugs alike chirped happily around them, the water sloshing occasionally to make the presence of an excited fish.

"Wow, when did this dock get here?" asked a stunned Toon Link.

Villager shrugged, "I built it. Consider it a donation to the Smashers from the people of Smashville."

"Hey Villager," interjected Young Link, "Why do you call your town Smashville if none of the Smashers live there?"

Villager chuckled, "I didn't build it, an old man named Tortimer did. Apparently he and a couple of others, I think K.K, Tom Nook, and Resetti, were invited to spectate back in Melee. He rechristened the town as soon as he got back. He saw Smash as a place that interconnected many people of different types, and he wanted to emulate that in his town. At least, that's the town gossip." explained the Mayor.

"Is it true what I heard that Otis and Mikey are from there too?" asked Toon Link as the other three set up their poles along the dock.

"Not 'from' there necessarily," Villager explained, "But they took up residence there. Lots of people got displaced by the Subspace Emissary, and so when I learned about this I opened Smashville up to refugees. That's how I met Otis, Mikey, The Wild Gunmen, The Excitebike Troupe, and the guy we got our Balloon Fighting training from."

"Wait, what happened to Tortimer?" asked Young Link, who was now setting up his pole.

Villager followed Young Link's lead, setting up his pole as he spoke, "Old man retired and lives on a private island."

Young Link simply nodded as Villager cast his fishing line into the water, "Oh, by the way, it's catch and release guys. We've got plenty of food and nowhere to store live fish."

The others nodded in unanimous agreement.

It was mostly silent for the next few minutes, each angler caught in their thoughts. Suddenly, Erdrick's spool began to spin fast. Erdrick quickly grabbed his fishing rod, but collapsed to the ground underneath the pull of the fish, being pulled further and further down the deck.

"I got it!" screamed Erdrick, " **OOMPH** "

A red flash of light erupted from Erdrick, a red aura surrounding him. He stood up, the rod still in hand, and pulled back on the rod. Like a dolphin erupting from the ocean, a mammoth green fish erupted from the water and flew through the air.

"HOLY-!" screamed the Link kids as they watched the scene unfold.

" **ACCELERATE!"** screamed Erdrick

This time, the red aura mixed with a green aura, Erdrick running towards the end of the dock, and sliding on his knees just in time to catch the enormous fish, and bolted down the dock, throwing it aways out into the water.

The rest of the gang's mouths were agape in shock, the silence broken by a screaming Villager "THAT WAS AN ARPAIMA!"

"A what? Did I do something wrong?" asked a bashful Erdrick, his colorful auras fading.

"THAT'S THE BIGGEST FISH IN THE RIVER!" Villager continued, his voice now a hoarse squeak.

"THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" shouted Toon Link.

"H-how did you do…any of that?" Zelda asked, sputtering from shock.

"Oh, there are spells I can cast on myself. Ooomph makes me stronger, Accelerate makes me faster."

"Hm, so I see. It'll be interesting to see how you put your magic spells to use in the tournament," Zelda said.

"Likewise Princess Zelda! I can't wait to test my skill in front of everyone," Erdrick explained eagerly.

Suddenly, the attention on Erdrick was broken by Villager's line tensing.

"I might not be able to top you Erdrick, but watch how an expert fisherman does it," boasted The Villager.

Pulling and grunting, he fought the spool of his fishing rod. Sweating, and hoping to whatever fishing gods there were that the line didn't snap, he retracted the line with all his might, finally giving it the final pull, and…

Villager didn't notice what he'd fished out until the group surrounding it.

"A…colored egg?" asked Zelda, confused, holding up the rainbow painted egg for everyone else to see.

"Is it a fish egg?" asked Link

Villager frowned, "Zipper."

"What?" asked Erdrick,

"He's a bunny, or at least a guy in a costume, from my world who pollutes the river with eggs around Bunny Day so people can get the prizes inside at the end of the festival."

"Is that sanitary?" asked Zelda, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"I mean, I guess. No one's ever gotten sick,"

"How does he do it?" asked Link.

"That's the thing. No one's ever seen him do it, so it could be anything from hidden scuba gear to reality-warping magic."

"If it's magic, then I shall help you investigate it," Zelda proclaimed

"Thank you for the offer Your Highness, but truthfully, I lost sleep over it my first two Bunny Day festivals as Mayor, and I don't intend to ever again," warned the Villager, his eyes suddenly completely devoid of life.

And without a word, the group went back to fishing.

 **Smash Park**

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" proclaimed Elizabeth.

"Damn it! This girl's good! Faster than you Lemmy!" Bowser Junior said, the last part in a singing voice.

"Shut it, ya damn motorhead! We'll get 'em in Koopaling vs non-Koopaling dodgeball!" declared Lemmy

Some distance away, on the park's sole bench, sat Subject Zero, bathrobe flowing pleasantly in the wind. He was supervising his young ward, Elizabeth, as she, Ness, Lucas, Cuphead, and Megaman battled the Koopalings in a game of tag, with Piranha Plant, Otis, and Mikey all sunbathing a safe distance away. At first, he'd been apprehensive about Elizabeth playing tag with spiked reptiles, but the Koopalings had been gentle with her, despite appearing to be competitive brats at first glance. They also were a bit too sailor-mouthed than he liked, though he was sure she'd heard him cuss a few times, and she hadn't repeated any of it, so he supposed it was fine.

Suddenly, a booming voice interrupted, "THERE YOU RODENTS ARE!"

Bowser stomped up to the bench, taking a seat next to Subject Zero, which dwarfed the amount he had to sit on considerably.

"Yep! It's like you say, Daddy, play fair amongst potential allies!" Wendy chirped.

"That's my girl! I didn't mean to interrupt, continue your game," pridefully chortled the enormous king.

The game continued, the grownups sitting in silence for a second, before Bowser stuck out an engulfing clawed hand, "Name's Bowser, King of the Koopas, how ya doing?"

Tentatively, Subject Zero returned it, Bowser slowly closing the hand, and shaking it.

"Huh, got a grip their pal," Bowser remarked,

Suddenly, Bowser's gaze snapped over to Elizabeth, who was currently running away from a lumbering Morton.

"She's yours?" asked Bowser.

"In a sense, yes."

"Ah, adoption. Lotsa people think I adopted all mine, but nope. Seven wives."

Subject Zero simply nodded.

"Turns out, when you're a king, you're the most eligible bachelor in town, even if the girl you really want is off-limits."

"Who's that?"

"Peach," snarled Bowser,

"Mario's girl?"

Bowser sighed, steam erupting from his nostrils, "Yeah. Me 'n her were childhood friends, but when I heard she was meant to be married off to a prince of Sarasaland, I kinda..well…I snapped?"

"Snapped? "

"Kidnapped her."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I've tried a couple of times, actually, and some mayhem always separates us again, whether it be Mustache or somebody else."

"And yet, you eat at their table?"

"I do. They've shown me more kindness than I ever could deserve. I only do it now when the citizens are down my throat about somethin' I'm doing or I'm alone with my thoughts for too long. They know that now though. Last time was super bad though. Blew most of the treasury on an extravagant wedding for us. But when Peach walked away from us after we threw down, he comforted me. He's a good man. I'm happy for 'em."

Suddenly, they heard a loud 'oof', followed by Larry hooting, "Ooof, leg sweep."

Both parents turned to see Morton thrashing on his shell, with Elizabeth standing triumphantly over him.

"MORTON!" roared Bowser, "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT PARRYING! WAX ON, WAX OFF YOU LITTLE TURD!"  
"Dad!" whined Morton, "We've watched that movie like thirty times and I'm no better at karate."

"That sounds like a 'you' problem," mocked Bowser, "Kids! Help him up. Also, make sure to eat your dessert in front of him at dinner tonight and mock him extra hard, because he is grounded!"

"Yes Daddy…" grumbled Morton

Subject Zero's eyes were wide with shock, "You gotta treat 'em with tough love," explained the Koopa King

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You'd better," Bowser snarled, "Though, your girl's a toughie. She'll survive just fine. Thanks for listenin' to me rant by the way."

"It's not a problem Bowser," muttered Subject Zero.

"Listen, some of the dads and I throw a barbeque after the first round's over, we started it last year. You wanna get in on it?"

Subject Zero shrugged, "Sure."

Bowser was cut opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the approaching sound of a motorcycle engine.

"HEY PORKY! WANNA GO BOWLING FOR SOME KIDS WITHOUT MOMS?" screamed Wario.

Subject Zero immediately bolted to his feet, but felt Bowser clamp a hand on his shoulder, "Tough love,"

Cuphead jumped into the air, screaming, "ENERGY BEAM!" spraying what seemed like a gallon of milk all over the ground. Porky, who was running just behind Wario's motorcycle, hung back. Unfortunately for Wario, it was too late, as The Wario bike slid on the enormous puddle, knocking him off it.

The kids pointed and laughed. Piranha Plant ran towards the scene, growling and looking for a fight, but Junior simply held out his hand to motion "stay" and, with one whiney growl, Piranha Plant did so.

Finally regaining his composure, Wario stood up as red as a beet, picking up his bike, mumbling, "This isn't over. I'll see you shrimps in the training room."

"Mister Wario, if Cuphead hadn't been there, you woulda pancaked those losers, because they're WEAK!" shouted Iggy, to which all the Koopalings nodded in agreement.

"Weak? Like you Herbs woulda done any better without me!" shouted Cuphead.

"We will! And you'll see that when we join Mister Wario and Mister Porky in the training room during physics week," sneered Wendy

"You royal runts are glad I owe yer father a few favors, or else you'd be right there with 'em."

"Nevermind cottage cheese ass over there, we are OUT Koopa Kids. We've got walls to paint on. To Team Chaotix's room!" Bowser Junior declared as he, the other Koopalings and Piranha Plant scampered off,

Just as Subject Zero went to tend to Elizabeth, he heard an obnoxious sniffle, and Bowser say, "That's my boy,"

"Elizabeth, are you alright?" asked Subject Zero, kneeling down to the little girl's level.

"Yeah! At first, I was scared, but then I realized Ness, Lucas, and Cuphead good, brave kids, so they'll protect me!" she said in her usual upbeat tone as if nothing had happened.

Subject Zero smiled, "Good, after all that, I think you deserve some ice cream."

"Yay!" cheered Elizabeth as they began their walk to the Smash Mansion together, hand in hand.

 **Brawl Caves**

Tucked away in the deepest part of The Smash Forest was an unassuming, dark system of caves. However, if a Smasher had been in the know long enough, they knew exactly what these caves meant.

It always seemed that whenever something got Master Hand in a particularly irritable mood, he would make the guilty party run a gauntlet against computerized versions of their Smash Brothers colleagues This was more difficult than what was the standard training gauntlet, dubbed "Classic Mode" as everyone was fought back to back in five rounds, in an order that seemingly only made sense to The Hands, with minimal healing items, and failure meant starting all over again. While this had been a "wacky family tradition" as Mario would later go on to call it, the rest areas for these gauntlets had been outdoor, serene places, the park in the Melee tournament, or the alternation between Smash Mountain and The Grand Canal in the Duel tournament.

The lone exception was the Brawl tournament's location for the event, the caves.

Feeling particularly grumpy that year, which in hindsight was probably due to knowledge of the impending Subspace Conflict, Master Hand demanded that Sonic, who had made one wiseass comment too many at the opening meeting, was made to hike the forest and do his training in the almost completely dark solace that affectionately be known as the Brawl Caves.

Even after Brawl Caves were no longer used for their original purpose, Ganondorf, King of Gerudos, would continue to spend time here. A desert dweller who often traveled great lengths, caves were a sanctuary he was intimately familiar with. But, his solitude didn't last long. Donkey Kong had barged in one day, before the Duel tournament looking for rocks to smash. His claim that he could smash rocks better than The King of Evil, had irked Ganondorf, awaking some childish need to prove him wrong. Rumors had spread, as they do, and the Rock Crushing Competition entered its first year as an invitational. The Kongs, King K. Rool, Little Mac, Doc Lewis, and Incineroar had all shown up. Each person had multiple rocks, each marked with a haphazard paint job of a streak by the middle by Diddy Kong.

"Gentlemen, we know why we're all here. We all know the rules. Whoever does the cleanest split of a rock wins the contest."

"We'll go first," Doc Lewis piped up.

Ganondorf sneered, "We? This isn't a team affair Mister Lewis."

"I know that! We've just been sparring whenever we get the chance, and we need to finish it off."

Ganondorf sneered deeper, opening his mouth to deliver an angry protest, but Incineroar piped in, "Uh… if it's all the same brother, I'm gonna need to hulk up too."

Ganondorf's demeanor softened, though he seemed annoyed rather than uproariously angry, "Do you three have any objections?"

None came from the Donkey Kong Island trio.

"Alright, you may begin."

Little Mac and Doc stepped up to the rock, painted green to resemble the underdog boxer's signature shorts. Briskly, Doc Lewis slapped Mac. Mac beckoned for another, and then another. Ganondorf grinned while the others flinched. He understood what they were doing. Mac, meanwhile, stood poised, his right hand flashing before uppercutting the rock down the middle. The crocodile king flinched, but the others remained still. They'd witnessed the Star Uppercut in the Duel tournament, even if Mac's showing overall was underwhelming. It was nothing to mess with. The King ambled forward next, one hand gloved in a boxing glove, drawing the first back, and Smashing the rock clean in half as Mac had, except it was slower to break, and even slower to fall to the side. He snarled in Mac's direction as if to goad him into beating his record, but Mac stood firm, not taking eyes off the King Cremling. Donkey Kong stepped forward, winding up his signature Giant Punch. DK snapped to a neutral stance, his eyes bearing an angry fire, his teeth gritted into a rage. Reeling back, Donkey Kong connected with the rock, the piece of foundation split into four pieces. Ganondorf himself sauntered up next to the sounds of DK's friends still applauding his effort. The applause stopped when Ganondorf turned his back to his piece to his target, cocking his dominant arm back, dark energy pulsating in his hand, shifting on his toes to face the rock. He didn't quite understand the logic behind it, but something about using one's muscles to pivot while channeling the energy like this made it channel more. And as his fist slammed into the rock, it shattering into a million pieces, and even more when those pieces flew and broke among the cave wall.

"I concede," Diddy barked, his eyes wide with shock.

Ganondorf cackled. The laughter stopped, however, when Incineroar sauntered up to him.

"Hit me, pump me up," seethed Incineroar

A Warlock Punch later, and it was like hitting steel. Incineroar's veins were more visible now, outlined by fire, and the big cat was smirking.

"C'mon. You can do better than that," snarled Incineroar.

Ganondorf turned his back to him, hitting his Charged Warlock Punch. Again, steel. Veins were even more defined now.

Donkey Kong laughed at Heel Pokemon's lack of flinching, "Oh? Like you roodypoos could do any better."

Kong charged his Giant Punch again, firing off while sprinting towards Incineroar. More of the same.

Mac launched forward, his fist burning red from a straight lunge. More of the same.

Diddy charged his jetpack, quickly throwing himself to the ground and unstrapping himself from it, ensuring the jetpack flew right into Incineroar. As he had done with all the others, Incineroar simply puffed out his chest, tanking the explosion. Incineroar had a mad, wide smile on his face, snarling, "I'm ready now,"

Incineroar picked up his boulder, throwing it. The ropes of a wrestling ring appeared, and the rock bounced off of them. Bring his arm up and out, the wrestler cat's beefy arm collided with the rock, and behind him, all the other spare rocks melted into molten slag. Staring up, smirking at his slackjawed competition, Incineroar simply asked, "Do you smell what I'm cookin'?" sauntering out of the caves.

 **The Grand Canal**

The Grand Canal was about halfway up Smash Mountain. This was where the Smashverse's water supply was filtered, some of it going down to the lake, some of it being filtered to the underground pipes to the rest of Smash City for all the things people needed water for. However, the walking path near it served as a meeting place among the Smashers, and was typically a peaceful place, unless…

"WHY IS SHE ALWAYS LATE?" roared Charizard

"Why are you always so impatient?" Ivysaur grumbled

Charizard huffed, a burst of flame jutting into the air, "Hey, shut up you old grouch!"

"Enough," Red, the owner of the three Pokemon muttered just loudly enough for them to hear, "And Squirtle, quit making faces at your brothers."

Ivysaur and Charizard turned to look in at their youngest cohort, Squirtle, who was in fact in the middle of making a goofy face, his mouth stretched wide with assistance from his paws, tongue out, much in the same way one would make a small child laugh. Squirtle let out a grunt of shock, realizing he'd been caught, sheepishly slinking back in embarrassment

Red found himself zoning out oh so briefly but was snapped to reality by a familiar voice behind him.

"Ah, so you're here."

Red smirked, "I'm here because I've been waiting for you Green,"

He heard Green begin to speak something in protest, but the noise got caught in her throat, resulting in a grunt. A beat of silence before she quietly spoke up, "Am I…late again?" she asked.

"I mean, yeah," Red said with a flippant shrug, "But we like being here."

"And that makes three of us," grumbled Charizard

Green stomped her foot in annoyed protest, "Hey! Be nice!" she shouted, "I like this place too. I get sentimental about it a lot because this is the place where we…"

"Qualified," interrupted Red, his expression suddenly becoming grim.

As a result of the Duel tournament, memberships of some of the Smashers came into question. The Ice Climbers had outright quit when they found out Master Hand was to resume his post as if nothing had happened in the Subspace conflict, and Red had recommended his childhood friend, Green, who unlike Red, had traveled to multiple regions to become champion of the whole world. Unbeknownst to Red, however, Master Hand didn't particularly appreciate Pokemon trainers, especially one that had operated so dismally in his tournament, opting to bring back only Charizard, because of the quartet, he'd sold the most merchandise. While the critique of his performance was justified (he had lost in rather convincing fashion to Ike in the first round), he thought that another chance was warranted. Master Hand had agreed, if the two could win a "Two against the world" version of All-Star, with one elimination resulting in the firing of them both. They had completed the challenge with healing items to spare.

"Man, I don't think I've ever been so happy to have aced a challenge in my life!" said Green.

"Yeah, for sure!" agreed Squirtle,

"Yeah…" Green mumbled

She caught herself staring at the ambiance of the place, but something, on a pilar to their right, caught her eye, "Look! The statues from when we defeated everyone are still there!"

Red followed her gaze, and sure enough, the Duel tournament participants were emblazoned in figurines, each figurine given its own hollowed-out space in the stone pillar. They looked as if they'd been recently removed and polished.

"Do you think they're gonna use the space again?" Red asked.

Green shook her head, "No. That was more of Master Hand's thing. Seems like Mario's _modus operandi_ is to punish people with Battlefield training. Torri heard from someone about the dance party people before it even broke in the meeting."

Red chuckled, "She's one to gossip is she?"

"Yeah!" said Green with a similar chuckle, "She talks to everybody."

Charizard suddenly roared, "Oh enough! Show us your Pokemon Green!"

"Aw get hit by Pound Charizard!" Squirtle whined, a deep frown on his usually happy face, "I like it when Red and Green talk together. Feels like home you know?"

"As much as I hate to say it, Charizard is right," said Green, her hands moving to the three Pokeballs on her belt, "I kept them secret from you, and now it's time!"

Green, now with her Pokeballs nestled in her arms, spread her arms wide, "GUYS! GO!"

The balls traveled a few inches in front of her, each opening to reveal their contents. The first two were humanoid in form, a skinny blue lizard who stood with his arms crossed, and a lean yet muscular white bunny with an orange lower half in a karate stance. The most visually striking was an enormous green gorilla who wielded a drum, twirling his drum sticks idly. Upon seeing the situation, the bunny's eyes went wide, "Green, is this…?"

"Yep Cinderace," Green said, pumping her fist in the air, "This is Red,"

The lizard chuckled, "Kanto Pokemon. Interesting to say the least."

Green attempted to interject with an "Inteleon, be polite," but it was too late. Charizard's eyes were already rife with anger, his body tense

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" roared The Flame Pokemon, flapping his wings violently.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke erupted between the two parties, Greninja standing in its wake, "Enough," growled Greninja

"Greninja's right Charizard, save it for the arena," Red scolded his ward.

Suddenly, another voice rang out, "Ah! And so it is Master Greninja who has lost the contest!"

Fluttering down to meet them from seemingly nowhere, twirling his sword suddenly Yoshimitsu was above them. Green yelped out in shock, "How long have you been here? _Why_ are you here?"

"A stealth competition. I invited the other ninjas out to see who could scope the area the longest. It seems I've won," chided yet another voice.

Emerging from beside a statue of Wario in the statue pillar, Ryu Hayabusa jumped down to meet the ever-growing ensemble.

"Perhaps I underestimated you, being merely human," Yoshimitsu chuckled, "But it appears you were the best ninja of us at this moment."

"Shall we scope out a location for round two? Winner picks," Ryu challenged his fellow ninjas.

Yoshimitsu gasped, mockingly, which caused Greninja's eyes to narrow, "Zounds!" yelled the bizarre masked man, "So I must adapt once again to the complexities of this modern world. No matter! This time, I shall reign supreme!"

Hayabusa simply shrugged, turning to walk away, Greninja followed briefly, turning to stop to growl, "Don't count on it, mon ami," as the two losing ninjas departed the Canal together.

All eight stood in complete bewilderment, with Red finally breaking the silence, "So you went to Galar it looks like. How'd you like it?"

Green shrugged, "Interesting Pokemon, good food, but they have a stadium dynamic for even gym leaders, so doing everything in front of a live audience can be confusing."

Suddenly, the gorilla pounded on his drum, "Oi! You might not like it girly, but, I thrive in fronta of an audience. Tis why I've been askin' bout this place ever since ye told us 'bout it."

Green smirked, casting a sideways glance at her old friends, "I know you do Rillaboom,"

The eight stood in silence for a while, taking in the peace of the ninja-less Canal, before Ivysaur spoke up, "Wait, you're all Final Evos? Thought the rule was to rep each spot in the evolutionary family, which is why you had Froakie, Braxien, and Chesnaught last time."

Again, Green shrugged, but Rillaboom was the one who explained, "That Mario fella visited us in Galar 'fore the tournament started he did, said we all looked too interestin' to pass up."

"And," interjected Inteleon, "We fit the light, heavy, medium dynamic, unlike all you Kanto tubs of goo."

"Tubs of goo? Why I oughta…"

"Charizard, no!" Red barked, to which, again, Charizard relented, "That reminds me. How are your Kalos family?"

Green giggled, "Giving Professor Oak a hell of a time on his farm, along with all my other Pokemon. I wanted to take them with me, thought I'd stop faffing around..."

"Faffing?" Red asked, an eyebrow raised.

"It's a Galar expression, like 'screwing'," said Green, "Anyway, thought I'd stop screwing around and go for the League right away, but they have bizarre import rules, and I couldn't take them with me."

"Ta keeps the soil pure, it's what me grandfather always said," Rillaboom barked, pounding his chest.

"In case you haven't noticed, idiot, it isn't wartime anymore," Ivysaur growled.

"Tell that to Parliament old man," Chamelon mumbled, smirking.

"Regardless, I'm glad to test my mettle against other Pokemon from other places. Galar has a bad reputation because of its restrictions, but I want to prove them wrong, with everyone's help," shouted a determined Cinderace.

"Mm-hm!" Green agreed, her eyes lighting up, "And we're gonna run drills to get ready in the forest. You down for joining us Red?"

"I mean, it's up to them," said Red, turning to his crew, "Guys?"

Squirtle let out an enthusiastic, "Yay!" while Ivysaur simply nodded, while Charizard crossed his arms, "Prepared to be outdone, pricks."

Green's gaze snapped to her team, who all were deeply frowning out the dragon, "Guys, simmer down, it's Charizard, he's just…like that."

"If ye say so lass," Rillaboom growled, "We'll show 'im what's up in the ring,"

"Guys, enough dilly-dallying, let's head out," commanded Green.

And so, the group of eight headed down the stairs of the canal, each looking forward to the tournament ahead.

 **Smash Mountain, Base**

"Say, Nana, what was our record climbing this thing last time?" Popo asked as he gazed up at the mountain, rubbing his chin in thought.

Nana mirrored her partner's gesture, "Well, the last time we climbed a mountain in a foreign dimension, we did it in three minutes, and that was with extenuating circumstances going on."

Popo shuddered. He remembered the fear of being amongst the Subspace Emissary. He remembered concluding with Nana that the best thing they could do was what they'd knew, climb the mountain, dodging Subspace enemies the entire way up, before being challenged by Meta-Knight Popo had never seen something as heavy as the combined might of The Halberd and The Great Fox crash into a mountain before the Subspace conflict. He didn't know there was a force mighty enough to shatter a mountain top.

"Yeah," nervously shuddered Popo,

Nana raised an eyebrow, "You okay?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"You need me to take point on this one?"

"That'd be great."

And so, as they'd done a million times before, they ascended the mountain, bouncing from ledge to ledge, Nana in the lead, Popo in the back. They'd never questioned their ability to leap mountains in a double-digit number of bounds when it took most normal folks they knew days to complete a similar task. Since they were children, the old stories had been grated into them by the elders. Legends of their home tribe, the Nakatsuka Tribe, said that once every century, the ice god Uemura bestowed superhuman strength on one man and one woman to serve as the protector of the tribe from the monsters that also made their home on the simply named Icicle Mountain. So they'd been chosen, and so they did, day in, day out. That was until The Smashers had come calling. Master Hand said knew Uemura personally and had chosen him upon his recommendation. While this was interesting in theory, Master Hand's patent for nonchalant deceit had been shown to know no bounds, which is why they'd left in the first place…

"HEY!" shouted Nana, snapping Popo out of it as they both continued the assent, "Eyes up front! There might not be any Topis, but we can't afford to get lazy."

"Got it!"

Onward and upward the Ice Climbers went. Popo took a brief note of the many cave systems that seemed to dot their ascent before snapping his gaze back to his pink-clad beacon of salvation should the worst occur. After a few minutes of silence, Nana shouted, "Think we're about to reach the peak! Snow's getting thicker!"

"Like I don't know what a mountain peak feels like!" retorted Popo.

"Never hurts to review the basics!"

"Yeah, how often do you review basic arithmetic?"

"You know what I mean! Can't afford to…"

"…Get lazy, right!"

Three more leaps and Nana made the call, "Peak inbound!"

"No condors?"

"No condors."

One leap, two, three, four leaps…

"Here's the big one!" shouted Nana!"

The Ice Climbers simultaneously bent their knees, making the biggest leap of all to the snowy peak of the mountain. Their eyes widened in shock as they saw what waited for them.

"Lucario!" both Climbers gasped simultaneously as they landed

Lucario, eyes closed and arms crossed, grinned slightly. Popo observed his perfectly blue fur. He hadn't been there long.

"Are you surprised to see me?"

"No, but…usually we have mountain tops to ourselves when we come here."

"That's what I thought during the Subspace conflict, and what I thought today."

Popo confusedly raised an eyebrow, "Funny, I was just thinking about the Subspace on my way up here."

Lucario grunted lightheartedly, "I know, he told me."

"He?" Nana asked

"I did," growled a familiar voice.

Out from behind Lucario stepped Mewtwo, with a displeased look in his eyed.

"Mewtwo? What're you doing here?" asked Popo.

"I get kicked out of the cave I like to frequent once a tournament so the stupid Neanderthals can have their rock crushing competition."

"Rock crushing? Sounds fun!" Popo cheered a big smile on his face at the prospect of such an event.

"Hmph, I should've known," Mewtwo grunted in his usual haughty way.

Popo glanced at Nana, who suddenly had a very concerned look on her face, "Mewtwo, are you cold?" asked the female mountaineer.

"No!" snapped Mewtwo.

"You have to be!" Nana protested, "You're nothing but skin and bone."

"I…"

"No Mewtwo, if you come up here, you have to have a coat on. I'll even knit you one if you'd like."

"She's knit a ton of stuff before for the other Smashers, it'll be great!" Popo insisted, his smile becoming bigger and more forced

"You intend to persist the issue until I submit. For that reason, and for that reason only, I'll allow it."

"Yay!" Nana cheered.

Lucario chuckled, "Wonderful. Now you can stop using me as a snow shield."

"Mhmm, whatever," grumbled Mewtwo, telekinetically manipulating the snow to make a snowball.

"Well Mewtwo, we shan't waste any time. Back down we go!"

Popo sputtered in protest at his partner's sudden shift, "W-what? But we just got here!"

"Popo, you don't understand," hissed Nana, burning desire in her eyes, "A poor animal needs to keep warm,"

"Oh!" Popo shouted, dramatically throwing his hands in the air, "The poor animal that's controlling a snowball _with his mind_ needs a sweater knitted with love?"

"Um…yeah," the pink parka-ed Ice Climber guffawed with a mocking perplexion, "Why do you have to say it like that?"

"Fine..." grumbled Popo, turning to hop back down the mountain with his partner.

Before the duo jumped down, Nana shouted, "We'll have that sweater for you on the double!" the word 'double' hanging in the air as they descended.

There was a moment of silence before Mewtwo piped in, "I wanted to throw that snowball at them so, so badly."

"I know," Lucario said with a nod, "But you've already got an intimidating aura as is, so it wouldn't kill you to be nicer."

The wind whistled as Mewtwo hung his head, absorbing his friend's advice.

"Hm, perhaps you're onto something. I'm already good with the kids, the adults…not so much."

"That may be a starting point," Lucario said with a nod, "Invite someone to the cave after the first round."

"That may be interesting. I'll consider the matter. Thank you for the advice…and warmth."

"I'm happy to help," Lucario mumbled

And with that, Mewtwo teleported off the mountain. To his room? To the caves? Lucario couldn't sense his aura.

 _Hmmm, would it kill me to be nicer too? I've been quite mean to the Phantom Thieves,_

And with that, Lucario spent the day meditating, contemplating the next move.

" **Duel Ball" Arena**

Once, while perusing the Mansion's voluminous, but woefully underused library, Robin had found a quote, attributed to a man's name he could not remember, that read "Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." No place on the property embodied that phrase so masterfully than where he stood, the "Duel Ball Arena." 

The story went that, one day, for reasons beyond the understanding of even the Smashers who claimed to know the old leader best, Master Hand had decided to revamp Target Test, a much-beloved training simulator in which one completed an obstacle course while destroying clay disks with bullseyes on them, aiming to not only destroy the targets, but to do it faster than everyone else, and revamped it into a game in which you lobbed a bomb at a tower of crates, hoping to cause the most destruction in two turns.

According to the older Smashers, many training simulators had gone by the wayside in the history of Smash Bros, Board the Platforms, Trophy Rush, Race to the Finish, or knocking falling trophies into a hoop atop Smash City's largest building, The Trophy Hotel. But Target Test was an _institution damn it_ , a popular joke phrase which began life being bellowed out in all seriousness by Luigi when the Duel participants had learned of Target Test's end. While the other veteran Smashers hadn't been quite as dramatic as the cowardly ghostbuster about it, it was certainly a sentiment that was shared in the grumbles of men and women stuck in their ways. Wanting to give the new training exercise a fair try instead of griping about it, it didn't take many practice attempts for Robin to realize it was a puzzle of inertia and momentum. Attacking the bomb was part of the equation, but of equal importance was _how_ the player hit it. Hit it low to take out the foundation? Bounce it off the back wall for vertical and horizontal distance? All valid strategies. Combining all these, Robin had established a score that was yet to be beaten, and when others came close, it was usually because of dumb luck. Robin had been a semi-finalist in the Duel tournament, losing to Cloud Strife, and while the placement was a source of pride for the white-haired mage, depending on how sentimental he was feeling when asked, his utter dominance at the game that had affectionately been coined "Duel Ball" could eek into first place on the list of his proudest moments as a Smasher.

"This is it father," came the voice of his wife Lucina from behind them.

Suddenly, the wall behind the former host of Grima slid upward, Lucina and Chrom stepping out of the dark tunnel, the secret door descending shut when everyone had cleared it

Lucina latched onto Robin's arm while Chrom, hands on his hips, a bemused smirk on his face observed the block structure, which had stood since the end of the Duel Tournament, and the bare bones colosseum which held the event. Chrom let out an impressed whistle of approval, "So, this is where my son in law's 'Fire Emblem' moment took place?"

Uncharacteristically, Robin sputtered, blushing, "I…I hardly think acing a training exercise compares with finding the Fire Emblem, of all things."

Chrom blew a raspberry, along with a dismissive handwave. Robin quickly cast a glance at Lucina, who was vibrating in an attempt not to erupt into laughter.

"Is there a point to your childishness _Dad_?" teased Robin.

Chrom laughed, " I was just going to say that we all have our heroic moments. Even more impressive if they are many feats, which requires many different skills. You, son, embody that. It's why you were very nearly the champion."

Robin nodded, "But I won't have truly conquered this subject until I beat Sir Strife."

"You can do it!" barked Chrom, the suddenness of which snapped Lucina out of a solemn look at the ground.

"You think so?"

"You conquered Grima, didn't you? You united Lucina with all of us after the Duel Tournament. There isn't anything you can't do."

Robin thought for a moment, suddenly snapping to an intense gaze, "You're right! But let's not discount you, or Lucina. We can win this tournament if we train hard."

"Right!" Lucina agreed, "I believe in the three of us."

Chrom simply nodded. Robin again casting a glance at Lucina, who was staring off into the distance, a determined look on her face.

Their moment of solace was broken by a booming voice erupting from the long tunnel to their left, "Hey! Is that Lucina I hear? That means her husband and old man aren't far behind!"

"Falcon, you big dumb dastard, I'm here!" playfully shouted Chrom,

Sure enough, Falcon, Fox, and Falco came into view, The Captain sporting his usual sauntering walk, Falco walked briskly grumbling to himself, where Fox's eyes just looked…sad as he ambled along.

"So you had to bring back up to challenge me eh? I'll wrestle all three of you!" Chrom boasted, his chest comedically puffed out.

"Afraid they aren't part of our usual rendezvous buddy. The fact of the matter is I'm keeping them from tearing each other apart."

Lucina stiffened so suddenly Robin felt the jolt, "Aren't you two…the best of friends?" she asked.

"Yeah but…" Falco started, anger in his voice, only for Fox to suddenly hold up a paw.

"Let me explain."

The next half hour or so went into Fox explaining Krystal's recruitment, what had been revealed in the preamble, and what happened in the aftermath. At the conclusion of their tale, Robin and Chrom's faces remained neutral, but Lucina's eyes were wide with shock, her lips twisted into a deep frown, "Sir McCloud., to say I'm disappointed as a deep understatement. You should know never to guard to a woman without her permission, much less without her knowledge" the former time traveler scolded the vulpine.

"I mean, his methods were suspect," Robin spoke up, "But I can't say I wouldn't do the same if I thought Lucina to be lost, especially after all we've been to. Chrom, would you not say the same of Sumia?"

"Mother," whispered Lucina,

Chrom thought for a moment, rubbing his chin in thought, "I would. In doing so, however, I would be aware of the consequences Sumia would bring upon me. Concealing it from your friends was obviously the wrong decision."

"I know,"

"Oh, you think you know, till Wolf an' me beat the tar outta ya." Falco chided.

"Hm, that's what it's come to?" inquired Lucina

"Trust me, it woulda come to that sooner if Captain hadn't mediated."

"Birds of Prey for life baby," interjected Falcon with a salute

"Not to mention if Krystal wasn't hospitalized. I have no doubt she'd come after me then," said Fox said,

Lucina frowned once more. The usually prideful and surefooted McCloud sounded dejected as if he'd been sleepless for several nights. He looked it too, so much so that Lucina could deduce it from atop the Duel Ball platform.

"It sounds like you need rest regardless," she said, nodding to Fox.

"Yeah, you're right Lucina."

"Falcon, can you make sure he gets to bed?"

Falcon nodded, and without further ado, pivoted on his heel to leave, putting an arm around Fox as the trio turned to walk away. Chrom wordlessly fell to a sitting position, scooting forward so his legs hanging off the platform. From a pouch in his armor, Chrom produced a small notebook and a pen.

"Father, what are you doing?"

"Writing your mother, it's been too long."

Lucina nodded, taking a seat next to Chrom, and Robin taking a seat next to Lucina, the Ylissean royals sat in silence, enjoying the peaceful time with family.

 **Smash Stadium**

If you had told Quinn Marmaduke at the start of his tenure at the Brawler School that he would someday be jogging through Smash Forest under the leadership of Wii Fit Trainer with Melee Champion Roy, his counterpart Marth, and the legendary Street Fighter Ryu with Pichu on his head, he wouldn't have believed you. But yet, here he was.

"Good job everyone! Keep up the pace!" shouted Miss Trainer from the front of the group. as the bobbed through an ever-growing thicket.

"Sir Ryu, I do not mean to offend in asking this," Marth asked the man jogging in front of him," But how are you keeping pace with the rest of us whilst not wearing foot protection?"

Ryu chuckled as he jumped over a downed log, Marth and Quinn doing the same when they were faced with it, "I travel barefoot, and when I'm not on a plane going from country to country, I'm walking."

"But doesn't it hurt?" asked Roy from in front of them.

Ryu shook his head, "No. If one does it enough, their feet callous. Oddly enough, it makes kicking less painful."

"I can imagine so," Marth said, grunting as the group bobbed and weaved between even more trees.

Suddenly, the group came to a clearing, and in front of them stood a metal blast door, which had the spinning knob of a vault in its middle. Above and around it stood a seemingly endless barrier of holographic hexagons. Quinn noted internally that it looked like the same barrier that indicated the blast zone of a stage.

"I'm assuming this is it?" Miss Trainer asked Marth.

It is indeed. I'll take care of the rest."

Marth stepped past the group, striding up to the door. He presented his communicator. To everyone's surprise, a light erupted from the vault knob, scanning Marth's communicator up and down. With that, the door opened. The group stepped through. Quinn would have closed the door, being in the back of the pack, but he was too awestruck by what he saw before him. Marth awkwardly stepped around Quinn to shut the door before saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, Smash City, and it's crown jewel, Ultimate Stadium!"

The introduction didn't even process for Quinn. Seemingly cutting through the heart of a completely empty cityscape, and seemed to be as tall as Quinn could see.

"D-does this..,?"

The eyes of everyone were on him now, and Quinn was nearly choking on saliva, he cleared his throat, "How long does this go on for."

'It cuts through the city, end to end," explained Roy, now looking to Marth, "People are given assigned entrances, and their lodging is coordinated to be near their assigned entrance correct?"

Marth nodded as he motioned the group in through the nearest entrance, again showing his communicator to a steel blast door, which swung open. Immediately, they were on an expansive stadium floor. Quinn had thought he had come to terms with the scale before, but standing inside a dome in which seats went into the horizon, and had enough room to wrap around in a dome was astounding.

"Amazing isn't it?" pondered Ryu, hands on his hips, "I've walked the Great Wall of China and been to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in my world, and the guided tour of this stadium they take the newcomers on would suggest it's multiple times longer and taller than either of those."

"Oh, it's expanded," Marth blurted in his now trademark nonchalant way, "We've engaged so many new worlds since them we've had to increase the size multiple times over."

"Multiple?" shouted Roy incredulously, "But it fit the entirety of Mute City, and that's two billion people,"

"Surely," Quinn said, pausing to find his words, "Surely not _everyone_ from our home universe comes to see the fights right?"

Marth shook his head, "Not everyone, but most people do. A place that exists outside of time, and is virtually free if one so chooses is a surprisingly great vacation destination."

"It can get crowded though. Hence why the rich and people traveling in groups buy airships. Think of them as flying RVs. Not nearly as much exercise going on as one would get walking around the city, but I'm sure it's a fun time," Miss Trainer explained, suddenly clearing her throat, "Speaking of exercise, class in session, drop and give me twenty!"

It went like this for several hours. Pushups, running in place, and situps were the order of an intense cardio workout. After the last "event", a game could see how the group could run In place without yielding, which Ryu won, Miss Trainer blue into her whistle, "Very good gentlemen! You're a very attentive, durable group."

Through deep, winded breaths, Quinn wheezed, "You've had less?"

"Oh yes," Marth remarked, having a similarly hard time catching his breath, "You should've seen when she tried to make Wario and Dedede do yoga."

"It was hilarious until Miss Trainer snapped," interjected Ryu, who, while breathing heavily, was nowhere near as belabored as the others.

" You snapped Miss Trainer?" Quinn asked.

"Yes," an ashamed Miss Trainer hung her head, "It took Master Hand's magic to get bits of Wario's skull out of the carpet."

Even though the cardio hell Quinn had just been through had drained most of his skin color, Quinn managed to go a few shades paler at the thought, "Creators have mercy"

"Miss Trainer?" a rattled robotic voice asked.

Everyone turned to the source of the noise, A Polygon modeled after Captain Falcon led two additional Polygons, a Yoshi-shaped and DK shaped one, each carrying hunks of plastic molded to look like stairs. The cargo-carrying Polygons gently set the plastic stairs into a pile on the floor. Wii Fit blew into her whistle, "Okay everyone, each of you grabs a set of stairs, and I want 100 reps up and down."

"Goddess," moaned Roy, "At least I'll know how that man who got lost in the stadium went."

Quinn raised an eyebrow as he headed for the pile of workout equipment, "Lost?"

"Yes. During the Melee tournament, a man from Fox and Falco's universe got lost, presumably, apparently to go meet up with a friend he'd made from somewhere else. The stadium is so expansive, he got lost, both searching, and trying to find an exit, for three days."

"Three days?" barked Quinn.

"Yes, and possibly longer if someone hadn't noticed a dehydrated looking dog-man ambling around. After I won the championship, I let him pose with it."

"That man is actually a trailblazer for the city," Marth noted, "The incident played into how the city was laid out for the Brawl tournament."

Quinn simply nodded. There was so much history Hart hadn't been able to or neglected to, tell his students. The young Mii Brawler couldn't be happier, engaging with heroes of a mythical status, about a city he'd only heard about. Even he had to admit, it was too much to take in. His mind felt like mush.

 _My legs'll be mush after this is all said and done_ Quinn joked to himself, as he joined the others for yet another workout gauntlet.

 **Smash Mansion, Dinner time.**

Mario sat at the head of a ridiculously long table in the dining room. He hadn't expected the non-grounded Smashers to eat together until Opening Night. He smiled under his mustache, marveling at how Kirby could melt even the coldest of hearts by insisting they all try a soup he and his "family" made together. Mario couldn't enjoy the meal for long, however, gobbling down the last of it, before announcing, "Got some business to attend to, see you all tomorrow."

Mario headed to the basement level, going down the long hallway to the administrative building, where ROB sat, watching the bank of monitors, eleven of which were on, keyed to the rooms and location of the mansion, an individual screen occupying each room that held a grounded participant, Sans, Saki Yoshi, Dante, Akechi, the two grounded Street Fighters Ken and Chun-Li as well as the Phantom Thieves suite.

"ROB, status report," Mario ordered.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying the property. Housing accommodations seem sufficient," droned ROB.

"Did the grounded folks get soup?"

"Yes. No negative reports so far."

"Did they get their marching orders for tomorrow?"

"Yes, to report to the Battlefield training room at sunrise."

Mario snapped his fingers as something came to him, "Any word from Conker?"

"No. I theorize being in possession of the Smash Core masks his inter-dimensional travel, so we are unaware of any movements unless it is inside a dimension we have in our database," the robot explained

"Figured as much. I don't like being on the defensive, but what can you do?"

Remembering something more, Mario let out a groan, "How's the other thing…team…"

"The Federation United Containing Kick-ass Individuals Today has been put in place, sir."

"And you're sure we can't change the name?"

If ROB possessed the ability to, Mario imagined he would be sighing right now, "As I've explained multiple times Master Mario, this has been in place since after Subspace. Crazy Hand named the squadron and locked the file using an encryption that even I cannot edit."

Mario chuckled to himself. Could ROB feel annoyed?

 _If he could, I'm sure he would've abandoned the job by now._

"You're right ROB I'm-a sorry. I just do not a-like that acronym."

"Understandable sir," ROB said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"That'll be all, thank you ROB."

Mario awaited a parting greeting but got none. Turning to walk away, he wondered how ROB could be more vigilant at night.

At the moment, Mario got a text, an automated one stating that construction on the rooftop outdoor dining room of The Trophy Hotel. Mario smiled, forwarding the text to Peach. With final preparation in full swing, Mario had been neglected her even more lately, even more than before the final recruitment drive. Peach was quick to respond, sending back the symbol corresponding with both a smiley face and a heart.

 _Someone's been teaching her those goofy text faces_ thought Mario as he headed up to the ground floor. _I've only got the wide-eyed one down, having Sans in a group chat got me used to that one, but I'll have her teach me more._

Mario accessed the main level, hearing the Smashers chatter away as they continued dinner. Suddenly, Mario was made aware that a day of coordinating Polygons, Alloys, and Wire Frames for Smash City construction while the rest of the group had relaxed had made him very tired. Texting a quick, "Headed to bed, love you," to Peach, he headed for their room.

.


End file.
